One in a million
by crazy alligator
Summary: AU.  Rukia and Renji are both in rich, high status families.  Both are being forced to go to arranged marriage meetings, which they both hate because of the people they must meet with.  What happens when they are set up to meet with each other?  RenRuki.
1. One in a Million: chapter 1

Yes, I know...I should be working on my other stuff instead of starting something new, but...i just can't help it! On my other stories I'm suffering from the dreaded writer's block! T_T But this idea literally kinda just popped up and I couldn't resist myself! Either way, I hope you enjoy!

One in a million: chapter 1

Stepping out of the hot shower, Kuchiki Rukia sighed. The sudden lack of warm, relaxing water made her remember what she was going to have to put up with in about an hour. Taking a towel from the rack nearby, she wrapped it tightly around her small body. She definitely wasn't pleased at the moment.

The event she was referring to was an arranged marriage meeting. Lately they were becoming one of the raven-haired girl's least favorite things. Her stupid brother, insisting that she carry out their late father's will... She stepped out of the bathroom, feeling the warm steam that once enveloped her be replaced by the cool air of her bedroom, causing goosebumps to rise on her pale skin. She shivered slightly, opening up the drawers of her wooden vanity to try and find something 'suitable' to wear.

One of her father's last wishes...it was for her to be married-or at the least be engaged-by the age of 20. She was 19 now, not much out of high school, and her 20th birthday wasn't too far down the road. It was absurd to her, completely absurd...getting married at such a young age. It was one thing back in the old days of Japan, but nowadays...she growled at the ignorance of it. No one ever knew whether it was one of his great wishes because he was a traditional man, or because it was just his old mind starting to go, but even with this bothersome burden she was glad about one thing: the fact that she wouldn't be forced into an arranged marriage. True, since she was reaching her father's requested age limit, the family was _trying _to set her up with men that they found 'suitable', or 'desirable.' But she wouldn't be forced if it was against her will. She knew that her brother would never allow it, father's will or not, especially since he himself had married not only out of love, but of a much lower class. That was why she was even in this family in the first place. But disregarding their low class, her step-father had opened his arms lovingly, taking Hisana, and especially herself, in as if they were his very own. Rukia herself, even though she was never spoiled in the least, was always daddy's little girl, probably because when she and Hisana had entered the family, she had only been 5, while Hisana was 22 and married, and because her step-father never had a daughter of his own and never could because of the fact that his wife had passed years ago. And even though her brother's exterior was generally cold and distant, he did love her like she was his real sister, and she was one of the only one's that had ever seen his emotional side, that was aside from Hisana of course. So no, they weren't forcing her. _Pfft, they're not physically forcing me, anyways_, she thought. With every passing day she was pressured more and more to get married, especially by the elders of the family, and it was driving her crazy, not only with its redundance and annoyingness, but also with the slight guilt it was starting to cause her.

They would surround her, saying things like, 'Do you not want your father to rest in peace?' and 'Don't you respect your beloved father's wishes?' And not only that, but they would purposefully wait in various rooms in the large manor, leaving the door slightly cracked, and waiting for her to come by. When she did, they would start having conversations in slightly louder voices than normal, saying things to each other that they would never dare say to her face, but knowing that she could hear them loud and clear. She had heard various things, like, 'She is shaming the family by refusing to abide by what her father wished for her,' and, 'She should be more more grateful! That selfish girl! She was taken in by this noble family from the life of a street rat and yet she refuses to obey just one of her father's desires!' These comments that Rukia would hear made her tighten her fists, sometimes to the point where blood would drip down her palms. It wasn't so much the fact that they were insulting her, but the fact that they were trying to bully her. They were trying to bully her into getting married against her will. She hated it, absolutely hated it, but the thing she hated about it the most(and found the hardest to admit to herself)was that it was actually working. Every time she would be confronted, every time she would pass by in the halls and hear them...every sentence made another tic on the clock that determined when she would break and give in to their wishes.

Scowling to herself, Rukia pulled on a dress that the family insisted she wear for these stupid things. It was a yellow sundress, a plain yellow sundress. Quickly slipping on the matching shoes, she made her way back to the vanity to brush out her short hair. The small girl tried not to let herself get too bummed out as she began thinking about the 2 hours or so she was going to have to waste entertaining a complete stranger. Not to mention her family never did pick the most interesting men. Either they were men 30 years older than her that looked at her like in creepy ways, like they wanted to act out their creepy, perverted fantasies on her body, those old, disgusting perverts, or they were uninteresting stock brokers or something that wouldn't stop jabbering on about politics and math. She had actually almost fallen asleep at some of these meetings, and was positive that this one wouldn't be any better. This time it was a guy that was her same age, at least...thinking back, she was pretty sure that he was 20 or something. She couldn't quite remember his name, it was Kenji Arabai or something...and she had seen one picture of him.

He had wild red hair-she suspected it was dyed-and crazy, spiky tattoos all over. Plus, he was tall. REALLY tall. 6 feet 2 inches or something. That was a huge contrast to her height of 4 feet 8-and-a-half inches. Not like it was a deal breaker though. He actually had been pretty good looking in the picture she had seen, the best looking yet actually. Didn't matter though. She was sure that he would just be some boring grad student who was going for his masters degree in something or other and who was 'sure to make millions of dollars in his future career.' The thought made her sigh again. Stupid assholes, trying to lure her in with their money. She scoffed inwardly. Like she was that kind of girl. Though it seemed a bit sappy and out of character for her, she did care about marrying out of love. If she was going to spend the rest of her life with someone, she wanted it to be someone who she had a deep connection with, someone who she could trust, who she could tell anything. Someone who she could love and depend on, and who could lover her and depend on her. Not that she loved someone currently-she never had been in love before in fact, and was still a virgin even-but it was still what she wanted. Another sigh. Sometimes she thought that all the romance novels she read were softening her up.

And believe it or not, she DID give these men a chance. She didn't automatically reject the idea, if only her stupid family would pick men that would interest her instead of men that interested them. Every time it was just someone who either completely repulsed her or completely bored her, and she was positive that this new guy wasn't going to be any different.

She figured she would use the usual method though. When there were these meetings, there was a member from each family present to assess their own view of the match, but near the end they would step out for a few minutes, giving the two individuals who had been matched up a bit of time to themselves. When the family members were present, she had to act proper and polite and put on her 'acting voice,' as she called it. But during the time they were gone, she would basically tell the guy straight out that she wasn't interested, and that even if he was, that he should stay away from her and say he wasn't or else. These threats were accompanied by one of her murder glares and an intimidating tone. Not surprisingly, the men would never even stop to question what she could possibly do to them, they were just so scared shitless of her that they agreed. It worked every time.

Rukia walked out her bedroom door, heading downstairs towards the front door. Outside was a car that was waiting to drive her and her brother to this meeting, and she already had it all planned out again, what she would do. She didn't even consider the fact that he might be different, for she knew that that chance was one in a million.

* * *

_Good god_, thought Renji as he rode in the expensive car towards his arranged marriage meeting, watching the passing scenery that reflected off the window while his chin rested lazily in the palm of his hand, fingers brushing his cheek. Another stupid meeting. He inwardly sighed. These things had become his ultimate nightmares.

_Stupid Aunt Retsu, making me go to these things..._ His aunt, Unohana Retsu, who had taken him under her care when his parents died at the time was was only 2 years of age, was recently starting to force him to attend arranged marriage meetings. It was one the reasons he sometimes wished he hadn't been born into a rich, high-status family like he was. He thought that her reasons were absurd; something about him supposed to be developing into a man and finding a nice woman for himself. Renji really didn't think that his aunt understood men. He was 20 fucking years old, for christ's sake! Not that he would've minded settling down, that is if it was with the right woman. Even though most wouldn't think it by his personality, Renji did want to marry out of love.

Many people's impressions, though, were that he was some womanizing playboy that slept around and went to clubs to party his ass off every night. But actually, he was the exact opposite-hell, he had never even had sex! And all these women he was being set up with-he had concluded that they were all gold-digging whores. No one he could ever love. They had annoying, high-pitched voices and were all giggly, laughing at everything he said, even though he knew they were just trying to woo him. Even though they were pretty to look out on the outside, he knew that they had rotten hearts. And not even their easy-on-the-eyes exteriors were actually real. Every woman he had met with so far had either had some kind of plastic surgery, a nose job or a tummy tuck or something, or they wore gobs of makeup, so much that he could tell that they weren't the prettiest under it all. And sometimes, it was a combination of both.

And not only that stuff, but they annoyed the shit out of him. They would always throw fake insults his way, things like, 'Oh, Abarai-kun, you look so strong and handsome,' or, 'You're so charming, Abarai-kun!' And they would always ask to do things like feel his arms or something, in an attempt to seduce him while at the same being able to pass it off as something totally innocent, and to his disgust he always had to be polite and agree, allowing them to touch him. Their attempts never worked, though. Not that Renji didn't have enough hormones to have a good libido. He desired sex just as much as any 20 year old man, but he didn't want to waste it-especially his first time-on some meaningless slut that was just doing it for his wealth and didn't have the slightest bit of love for him.

That was the part that disgusted him the most; they didn't care about him, they only cared about his stupid money and status, even though they were already rich themselves, and couldn't care less what happened to him. He scowled at the thought. The redhead didn't have any hope that this latest girl was going to be any different. Some 19 year old named Yuki or something...a real shrimp.

He had seen a picture of her once when the meeting was first arranged. Short black hair, big, violet eyes, a petite figure...actually she was probably the prettiest yet, for in the picture, even though he wasn't sure, he didn't think she had had any cosmetic surgery, and she hadn't been wearing makeup. And she had looked pretty fair in that picture too. He scoffed. Renji was sure she was like the rest of them, her method was probably whipping out those big eyes of hers and playing cute little innocent damsel to attract all the rich men she could find. He planned on doing the usual thing though; when the accompanying family members gone, he would basically tell them that he wasn't interested, and that he wanted them to back out. Sometimes, they would just give in right then and there, obviously thinking that there would be other suckers to snag. But other times, they would persist, almost forcing themselves on him and even trying to do some strip teases in an attempt to 'change his mind.' At that point, he would turn merciless in his sayings, straight out glaring at them and saying harshly that he didn't want to marry some cheap two dollar whore who only wanted his money and status. They would have shocked looks, surprised, and even though at that point he knew that they knew that they weren't going to get him, they would still pout, disappointed that they had wasted all that effort on a guy that actually cared about real love and connection.

"Renji, we're here," chimed Unohana, interrupting her nephew's bitter thoughts as the car stopped. She was always sweet with everything she said, however from time to time she could also be very intimidating, and when she did that creepy nice-voice-scary-aura thing, then you knew that you should better just obey her wishes. That was what got him going to these stupid meetings in the first place.

"Hai, Aunt Retsu," he answered her, quickly opening the car door and stepping out into the sun. He wasn't expecting this girl to be different; it was a one in a million chance that she would be.

* * *

Rukia and her nii-sama walked side-by-side to the meeting location. The car had driven them to the park where the meeting was to take place, and now they were heading towards the benches where they were to meet. Rukia could feel warmth from the small patches of sunlight that hit her skin through the trees. A nice, gentle breeze was blowing, too; she could hear the sound of children playing happily nearby. The air was filled with the scent of summer, and for a moment she felt completely content...but her mood was suddenly ruined as they approached the people they were supposed to meet with and she remembered why she was here.

As they got closer, Rukia prepared her acting voice, and got ready to put on her nice routine. She truly did hate these things, and just wanted this stupid crap to be over. They eventually reached the waiting two, taking seats in benches across from them. Rukia eyes almost wanted to widen as she took in this guy's appearance. He was...pretty damn handsome, she realized. Sure, in the picture, he had been pretty good-looking to begin with, but in person...she even found it a little hard not to stare, especially at his covered chest, which she was sure was rippling with muscles underneath. And she couldn't deny the slight want to trace over his surprisingly sexy tattoos with her finger and run her hands through that long red hair of his. He was as tall as they said too, she noted, his knees jutted out from the bench and the lower part of his leg was folded all the way back under the bench so that his knees were jutting out instead of way up in the air. But she noticed the look on his face, it was all proper and business-like...dammit. He was surely like the others, she concluded.

* * *

Renji was amazed. This girl that took a seat in front of him...she was gorgeous, to say the least. Much better than in the picture even, and the picture was pretty good to begin with. She wasn't wearing any makeup either, and he could tell that she hadn't had the slightest amount of plastic surgery. This was natural beauty, and Renji also noticed that even though she wasn't that well-endowed, the simple dress she wore clung to her curves surprisingly well. The large man couldn't deny his slight desire to run his hands over her pale skin, and to kiss her in inappropriate places, all the while allowing himself to drown in those big, beautiful eyes she had. He also noticed that she was as short as he had heard, so much so that her feet almost dangled off the side of the bench.

But then he caught the look on her face. It was all happy and polite. Renji could also see the dishonesty in her violet eyes. She was faking it, faking the whole thing. He scowled inwardly. This was just going to be another long, depressing evening.

* * *

First were the introductions.

"Hello, Abarai-kun," said Rukia happily, bowing in her seat to show respect. "I am looking forward to getting to know you." She said nothing more. Even though she was supposed to be polite, it didn't necessarily mean that she had to ice the cake with extra compliments.

"As am I," replied Renji, also bowing. He was hating every moment of this, and he knew that it would just end like it always did. He just prayed that the family members would leave soon so that he could tell this bitch to back off. Although, even with these thoughts, he did notice something different about this girl. Though she was pretending to be nice and charming, she wasn't trying to butter him up or anything. It was almost as if...it was almost as if she was acting nicely against her will.

Next was the conversation.

"So," said Byakuya. "What do you all think about the latest in the stock market?" That was Rukia's brother all right, delighted at any time to speak about economic and political matters. They didn't strike Rukia as interesting at all, though. In fact, they bored her half to death most of the time.

"Oh, well," began Renji. Rukia scowled inside. Of course, he was just another boring man. She was pretty sure he was pretending to be interested in the things nii-sama was, just to impress him, too. Whether he was or not didn't really matter, though. She knew he was probably just another sick, twisted pervert that couldn't stop thinking about doing creepy, unmentionable things to her. The thought made Rukia's skin crawl. She hated men like him.

Rukia zoned out into these hateful thoughts, until Renji asked her what she thought. She had to be polite and answer, which she did, and after that she was paying her full attention to the conversation, even though it still didn't interest her in the least. But, as she watched them speak-Unohana had joined in-she noticed something. Renji was pretending, but he didn't even look like he _wanted _to be pretending. He almost...he almost looked like he was having as bad a time as she was. But she shook those thoughts away. It was impossible, she thought.

Soon, Unohana and Byakuya announced that they were leaving for a bit, and would return shortly. Both Renji and Rukia were excited. This was what they had been waiting for, and they watched the two depart with anticipation.

When they were finally out of sight, Renji opened his mouth to reject her, but was surprised when she spoke first.

"Listen, bastard," said Rukia, dropping her acting voice completely, tone turning to that of harshness. "I don't care if you're interested in me or not, but I'm sure as hell not interested in you, so you'd better back out." She was shooting him one of her famous death glares too, in hopes that he would just do as she said without an argument like all the others.

Renji was astonished. She wasn't a greedy whore...she was just like him, she didn't want to be here. Her acting was just so for when the family members were around. Renji would've whooped for joy, but the matter plaguing his mind at the moment was that she had just told him what to do. He scowled.

"Oh yeah, well for your information I don't want to be here either," said Renji. If Rukia were drinking tea, she was sure that she would've spit it out all over his tattooed face. He didn't want to be her either? She would've delved more into this, but Renji spoke again.

"But the last time I checked I didn't have to take orders from a little girl like you."Rukia completely forgot about his not wanting to be here, as her anger flared. That bastard had just challenged her. It was on now.

"Oh yeah, well the last time _I _checked, I couldn't be talked down to by a freakishly tall and tattooed freak with a weird hair color!" she retorted. Renji's own anger rose higher. Now both were completely overlooking the fact that they had mutual feelings about these arranged marriage meetings, and were totally focused on their battle of mocking.

"Well, I think that I can very well talk down to you 'cause your such a midget!" They were in each others faces now, teeth bared while they spewed saliva at each other.

"Whatever, you freak, I can't stand you anyways, so you can just go and rot in hell!" she yelled.

"Pff, you too, 'cause I can't stand you either!"

"Yeah, well I know that even though you're the most irritating person in creation, I could still put up with you longer, you coward!"

"No way, you little elf, I could so stand you longer, I bet you couldn't even keep up you charade nearly as long as I could!"

"Oh yeah! I bet I could!"

"And I bet you couldn't!"

"Yes I could! You wanna make a real bet out of it! Loser buys dinner!"

"Yeah, why not!" They slapped their hands together, shaking them slightly, and at the same time they they screamed,

"WELL IT'S A DEAL THEN!"

END OF CHAPTER 1

Well, as you can see there will be more future meetings, as these two have angrily made a deal to agree to more arranged marriage meetings so that they may see who can stand the other for longer. Well, what do you think? Again, sorry for not working on other stuff, but it's just this stupid, stupid writer's block...I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does, and opinions are always welcome and appreciated.


	2. One in a million: chapter 2

Here it is, chapter 2. Inspiration for this came surprisingly fast, actually. I hope you enjoy!

One in a Million: chapter 1

Rukia pulled the top of her chappy pajamas on, her yellow sundress from earlier discarded in the wastebasket by her closet. The top of her pajamas were all pink except for a single blue chappy head that was on the front, and the long sleeves were blue. The pants were also pink, but had several blue chappy heads that were scattered out across them. Rukia sighed in relaxation. Today had been such a hectic day, and all the small girl needed was some rest. She thought back to the deal she had made with that Renji guy out of haste and anger, feeling semi-guilty for giving him that kind of first impression her. It hadn't been until a little later after the meeting that she had realized that it might have been wiser to have a little more temper control.

_Not like he was bad guy_, she thought. After all, he _did_ have feelings about this arranged marriage meeting crap that were similar to hers. They probably could've gotten along...that was if their big heads hadn't butted. She chuckled. His personality seemed pretty much the same as hers. Stubborn, hotheaded, and with a soul of fire. Yep, even though she didn't know the guy that well, that was what his real self had seemed like. The small girl yawned, feeling another wave of drowsiness wash over her. She figured that she should probably get in bed soon lest she be tired all day tomorrow.

Walking lethargically over to the futon she had laid out, she practically allowed herself to collapse on it, sinking into the soft bedding. This was what it felt like to be floating on air, she thought. Pulling the warm covers up to encompass her small body, Rukia reached her hand out, grasping the turning key of the small lamp that lay next to her bedside before swiftly turning it. The light went out immediately, and she returned her hand to the warmth of her body before allowing herself to sink down into the depths of sleep.

RING RING RING!

Rukia's eyes shot open with a start, and she reached out her hand to locate the source of the loud, intruding noise: her phone. Rukia's hand fumbled around in the dark for a moment before finding her cell phone, grasping it and flipping it open while pulling it to her ear. She wasn't too happy or awake at the moment; Rukia had been just about to jump the border from semi-consciousness to full out sleep mode, and was not pleased at the fact that someone just had to call her and ruin that.

"Hello," said the person that was calling her. Rukia noticed that the sound was coming from down at her mouth, and quickly realizing that she was holding the phone upside down like an idiot, she flipped it, answering,

"H-Hello...Kuchiki...Kuchiki speaking." Her newly reactivated brain made it hard for the raven-haired girl to think straight, let alone speak straight, and her voice seeped of tiredness and lethargy.

"Oh, Rukia! I'm sorry! Did I wake you up! I can call back if it's a bad time!" came Orihime's voice over the phone. Rukia practically snapped fully awake at the sound of her auburn-haired friend speaking, and quickly shook her head, trying to clear it of the sleepiness that resided there, as she wanted to discuss the day's events with someone.

"Uh, no, Orihime..." Rukia assured her. "I'm fine to talk. What is it?" she inquired curiously, wanting to know why Orihime had called.

"Oh, well, I mostly just felt like talking to someone is all," said Orihime. "You don't have to force yourself to stay on, it's alright if you want to hang-"

"-Orihime, I'm fine," promised Rukia. And it was true. At this point she barely felt sleepy anymore, and she probably wouldn't have been able to get back to sleep for a while if they stopped talking now. "And beside, I have some news that I've gotta talk about." Rukia could practically see the gusto in the big-breasted girl's face as she answered,

"Ooh, is it about your arranged marriage meeting! What happened!" she squealed excitedly, obviously making no attempt to try and cover up her anticipation. Rukia, on the other hand, was pretty surprised that Orihime had guessed it that fast.

"Well, yeah, Orihime, but how did you know?" she asked curiously.

"I just had a feeling," she answered. Rukia smiled, and knew that her friend was also smiling on the other side.

"Well," began Rukia. "It turns out that the guy I met...he actually hates them too, the arranged marriage meetings, and it looks like he hates them just as much as I do..." She paused, waiting for a response from Orihime, which was given right on queue as the brown-eyed girl further inquired,

"And! Did you guys hit it off!" She was more excited than before now, Rukia could tell, and the petite woman couldn't help her awkward smile which was brought about half by her friend's enthusiasm and half by recalling the scene which she had had with Renji earlier that day.

"Well...actually..." said Rukia, and she swore that she could see Orihime leaning in closer to the phone in anticipation. "We kinda...ended up screaming in each others faces..." Rukia could tell that Orihime's face had contorted in confusion as she asked,

"What? How did that happen, Rukia?" Rukia concentrated for a moment, her features showing it, as she tried to remember what exactly had gone on earlier.

"Basically...at first I thought he was like all the others, so when nii-sama and the guy's aunt left, I kinda got really harsh with him and told him that he'd better back off because I wasn't the least bit interested." Another pause, partially to give Orihime time to jam in a comment or two, and partially to remember what had happened next.

"And?" asked Orihime impatiently.

"And then he seemed to hesitate for a moment before telling me that he didn't wanna be there either. For a minute, I was shocked, you know, I was astounded that he felt the same, but then he must've been angry about me being so pushy and demanding with my telling him to back off, because he added that he didn't take orders from little girls like me. And, well, you now me...I let my anger get the best of me, and I insulted him back." Rukia heard Orihime's sigh from the other side, and thought that she heard a faint slap, which was probably Orihime face palming because of her actions.

"What happened after that?" asked Orihime a few minutes later.

"You see..." began Rukia, "we kinda ended up making a bet about who could stand meeting the other longer in these meetings, so, yeah...we're going to be seeing each other a hell of a lot more than just that one meeting, and since we both have wills of steel, so I don't think it will be over any time soon." Rukia was now slightly embarrassed as she actually put into perspective and into words what they had agreed on. She would've never usually done something that rash, but for some reason that guy had ignited her anger way too fast and way too much, so much that she couldn't control it. It was strange, really strange. Usually she was able to keep a level head, even around the most irritating people she knew, but with one comment, this Renji guy had been able to make her emotions skyrocket to dangerous levels just like that. It was strange, indeed...

"Rukia? Rukia...are you still there?" Rukia snapped back to reality, shaking her other thoughts away immediately as she began to pay attention to what Orihime was saying again.

"Uh, yeah, sorry...what were you saying?" Orihime repeated herself without delay.

"I said, do you think that there might be any chance for you guys?" Rukia practically choked on her own saliva as the auburn haired girl spoke.

"Wh-what do you mean!" she exclaimed. "I never said I was interested in the guy, I was just saying that I feel bad for giving that kind of first impression of myself! I only think that we could've gotten along, not that we could've hooked up or something!" She was blushing slightly now, and extremely flustered at the fact that Orihime would even suggest that kind of thing.

"I-I'm sorry, Rukia, I just thought that you were talking about finally trying to make one of these meetings work...I mean, he's cute, right?" Rukia's blush intensified.

"I mean...well...yeah, he is, but-"

"-well then why don't you give him a chance?" she interrupted, cutting the raven haired girl short without a second thought. "I mean, you did say that he felt the same as you, didn't you? You guys could probably relate to each other really well and maybe even turn it into something more." As she spoke, Rukia's face continued to redden until it was almost on the same level as Renji's hair.

"Just because we feel the same about something doesn't mean that we automatically like each other!" exclaimed Rukia, though her tone was more of that of being flustered and embarrassed than that of being angry. "You're getting ahead of yourself, okay, this isn't some fairytale love-at-first-sight live happily-ever-after kind of thing! And besides, even if I did want it to turn into something...more, he probably thinks that I'm a psycho bitch with anger issues after what happened!" She finished her tangent, breathing heavily, face bright scarlet. Orihime chuckled, recognizing her embarrassment, and knew that the raven haired girl wasn't angry, but that a little part of her _did _want them to be something more.

"Okay, Rukia...sorry, I didn't mean to insult you," she said, trying to sound serious without breaking out into laughter. Rukia sighed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Orihime...bye." Orihime mimicked the response, after which Rukia flipped the phone closed. She stared at it for a moment, replaying the conversation in her head, before practically throwing the phone back into it's place beside her bed. The small girl turned around, snuggling angrily into her covers with a flush and a look of frustration on her face.

Wanting to have a relationship with that big oaf...ridiculous!

* * *

"Yo, guys, thanks for comin' over," said Renji. He was having poker night with his buddies in the finished basement underneath his house. Ikkaku, Yumichika, Shuuhei, and Kira...otherwise known as baldy, drama queen, loner, and the cowardly lion. He himself was deemed red ink, but the nicknames were outdated, and they barely used them anymore.

"Yeah, no prob, man..." said Ikkaku. "But what did you want to talk about? You only change poker night when there's somethin' on your mind." The other men around the table nodded in agreement, leaning closer to hear what their friend had to say.

"Well..." said Renji, shuffling the deck of cards as he spoke, "It's about that arranged marriage meeting I had to go to today." The faces of all the men contorted in agreement, as they knew about Renji's predicament when it came to those things. Lately there had been more and more early poker nights at his place because of all the anger that the women caused him, and the fact that he needed to talk about it or he would surely explode. They all thought that it had been the same this time.

"Another greedy slut, right?" asked Shuuhei as he received his cards, expecting his answer to be a yes, then expecting his red haired friend to go off on a rant about what a whore she was. But his guess was wrong.

"Actually, no," explained Renji, causing the head's of his comrades to shoot up in surprise, their eyes widening.

"What?" asked Kira, cleaning out his ears to ensure that his hearing was alright.

"Are you serious?" asked Ikkaku, further extending the question.

"Yeah," assured Renji. "Turns out, she didn't wanna be there either, and she feels the same as I do." The men around him smiled in anticipation, all thinking that he must've gotten lucky.

"So?" asked Shuuhei. "Did you guys get together? Kiss? Screw?" Renji's face flushed at the last one.

"Ah," said Shuuhei, taking that and his silence as an immediate yes. "So you guys _did _fuck. Ya hear that, fellas, little Renji's not a virgin anymore!" Renji's face flushed even more, as he quickly corrected the man.

"NO!" he shouted, embarrassed. "We did not screw, okay! We didn't even consider getting together, so stop jumping to conclusions, would ya? You know I'm not the type of guy to just go and have sex with chicks that I've just met! And, besides, you idiot, how would we even have had time to do that! The family isn't gone for that long!" And even though Renji didn't mention it, he was also irritated that Shuuhei had called him his other nickname, 'little Renji.' And it was solely because of the fact that he was the youngest in the group; heck, he was the only one at the table who didn't have a bottle of beer. They were all 21 or older, and he was stuck at that horrible age of 20, when your so close to the legal drinking age but not quite there yet. Ikkaku and Shuuhei smoked, too, and he since he was of age he might've considered it if his aunt would've allowed it. She of all people forbade smoking, for her relatives and inside her house-which was why the others weren't doing it right now-and she had asked him to not pick it up when he had turned 18. Well, he thought, it was more like telling him, for she had done that creepy nice-and-evil thing that was her trademark, and that had pretty much banished all thoughts from his mind of ever picking up a cigarette. Just thinking back to that talk made the large man shiver.

"Why the hell are you blushing if you guys didn't do it?" asked Yumichika, breaking his red haired friend's train of thought. The blush on Renji's face didn't dissipate and he didn't reply. Yumichika smirked.

"Oh, _I _get it," he said, clearly amused. "You _didn't_ do her, but you _wanted _to do her." Renji's flaming cheeks began rivaling hair, and all of his buddies knew that that was the truth.

"She must be pretty then," said Kira, taking a peek at his cards. Renji's face began to cool down as he prepared to explain, that, yes, Rukia _was_ fucking gorgeous.

"Yeah," said Renji. "She's beautiful, to tell you the truth. No plastic surgery. Not even any makeup. But I'm telling you, she looks amazing." He raised, throwing the colored poker chips into the center of the table.

"Well then what went wrong?" asked Shuuhei. "She feels the same as you and has way-above-average looks. So what's the matter?" Renji scowled, embarrassment rising within him again as he answered, flustered.

"Well, for one thing, it's not like I would even necessarily want to be with her just because I'm attracted to her, thank you very much, and even if I did I think I've crushed those chances." Everyone else sighed.

"What did you do?" asked Ikkaku. Renji sighed, wishing that he would've controlled his anger a bit better so that what had happened wouldn't have happened.

"When the family left we still didn't know that the other was pretending, and just as I was about to tell her off, she got all up in my face and told me to back off and that she was there against her will." He would've paused, but knew that his friends were too engrossed in his story. "I was surprised, hell, I was super surprised, but typical tempermental me, her being so bitchy even though she didn't know I was acting, I got all nasty with her, telling her that being there wasn't exactly my cup of tea either, and telling her that I didn't have to take orders from her and insulting her." His buds all shook their heads, thinking that he was the stupidest guy in the world at the moment.

"What was the end result?" asked Kira, and all of them were dreading the answer.

"We kinda ended up making a bet..." explained Renji. "And now whoever punks out on the meetings first has to buy dinner for the other one." His comrades faces lit up as he told them the situation.

"That's great!" exclaimed Yumichika. "That means that the situation is salvageable! Since you guys are going to be meeting more, you can try and explain to her what was going on and maybe you guys can still have a chance at a relationship!" Renji flushed slightly again.

"Wow, wow, wow," he said. "What are you talking about! Didn't you hear me when I said I didn't necessarily have a romantic interest in her! I do want to clear things up, but that doesn't mean I wanna start a relationship! And besides, first impressions last, and based on the way I acted and the way her personality seems to be, it'll probably be pretty hard to change her mind about thinking that I'm a total douchebag that needs anger management classes!" He pushed all in, wishing that his friends would lay off of the relationship stuff. To his ignorance, they were all inwardly chuckling, recognizing the fact that the flustered redhead had a crush, and deciding to leave it alone for now.

"Okay, man...whatever," said Shuuhei, trying to change the subject and hold back his inner giggles, as was the rest of the crew. "I've got pocket aces. You?"

"Pocket kings," replied Renji. Damn. Bu his mind was more focused on the previous conversation-which he was still flustered and blushing from-than on the game. Stupid asshole friends of his...like he wanted to be a couple with that little midget...

END OF CHAPTER 2

Well, here it is, hot off the presses, chappy number 2! I hope you guys like it, and sorry about my other stuff being delayed. But I promise to update my neglected works A.S.A.P., so don't get too discouraged! Anyways, Tite Kubo owns Bleach, I don't, and I would love to hear your opinions!


	3. One in a million: chapter 3

Dang, I am just writing chapters on this one one after the other...then again, I am having a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you guys like reading it as much as I like writing it. Hope you enjoy!

One in a million: chapter 3

"So..." said Rukia, playing nervously with the hem of her dress, this time a blue one.

"So..." mimicked the large man next to her, as he scratched the back of his head with an equal amount of nervousness. This time the meeting had been at a pond, and the two were sitting directly next to each other on an old wooden bench, instead of across from each other, which they were both glad of because they wouldn't run the risk of accidentally looking the other in the eye. The family members were gone already. For a while they stayed silent, both staring into the depths of the pond in front of them, thoughts racing in their minds as they tried to think of how to approach the other one after their previous encounter the other day. Finally Rukia broke the silence.

"Hey, Renji...about what happened the other day...I kinda..." she looked over at him, surprised to find that he had already directed his own gaze towards her. For just a moment, their eyes locked. But that moment...that moment seemed to go on forever. They saw the emotion in each other's eyes, the urge to forgive, the nervousness, the tension...and the feelings. Rukia wretched her gaze away, staring the opposite direction as a blush rose on her pale cheeks. She couldn't speak anymore, not after that. Renji sensed this, and while he had also gone into a trance-like state during the meeting of their gazes, he willed himself to speak.

"I also...I also wanted to talk about that..." the redhead managed to get out, his voice cracking slightly. _What the hell! _He thought. _When was the last damn time my voice cracked!_ Renji had been on edge and thinking about this nonstop since their last meeting, and it was frustrating as hell how this girl caused so mush emotion to arise within him all at once. It wasn't that the emotion was bad, it was just...he didn't know why this was the case, didn't know why he felt all weird inside when he was around her, and it was driving him crazy.

Rukia's feelings on the matter much mimicked Renji's. She couldn't stand the involuntary butterflies that came when she was around this guy. It was fine the other day when they had been arguing(then again they had both been too angry to think of anything else at that moment), and it had been fine when their relatives had been present, but now that they were alone and this awkward silence was stretching between them...she just couldn't stand it! _Common, Rukia, tough up!_ She internally coached herself. _It's typical to feel weird around someone when you think you've offended them! _That was enough. Rukia was determined to do this. Taking a deep breath, the small girl whipped around, determined to give the apology of all apologies when-

"I'm sorry!" Renji blurted out. Rukia's mouth, which was wide open to say her own apology, slowly closed as she processed this. Renji's head was bowed before her and all she could do was stare at the back of his neck as even more thoughts invaded her psyche. This was the exact opposite of what she had expected from him. He was sorry? But she was the one at fault... Soon, Rukia found the power to speak again.

"Idiot..." she whispered. "I was gonna say that..." Renji's head shot up, and he gave her a confused look. Why was _she _apologizing? It was _his _stupid ass fault. Her eyes were downcast now, and he felt that he should be looking straight into them-whether it was because he wanted to make it seem meaningful or just because her eyes were something he could've drowned in for eternity he didn't know-when he explained himself. So he placed his large hand atop her head gently, carefully tilting it back some, all the while noting how soft and silky her raven hair was. The sudden movement made Rukia snap to reality, her large, dark eyes coming up to meet his warm, brown ones as her head was faced upwards to his. The tender touch of his hand sent warm tingles throughout her body. And for the second time that day, they were staring each other square in the eye in an unbreakable, seemingly eternal locking of gazes. But this time neither could look away. They were both practically hypnotized as they continued to stare, as if looking straight into the heart and soul of the other. And as Renji finally spoke, he did so in a small whisper of a voice.

"You have no reason to apologize..." he said softly. "I should have realized that you didn't know I wasn't some shallow, perverted ass...I should have controlled my temper better..." As he spoke, it was as if neither individual was there. They were lost, having involuntarily been entranced by the others deep, searching gaze. It felt as if they were floating above the clouds, and their minds were void of all thoughts.

"No..." argued Rukia, though weakly, as her tone was the same as his: breathy and soft. "I should'nt have assumed...I should have...I should have waited...waited to see who you really were..." Neither of them were blinking, not at all, as they were so caught up in...this, that they felt no need to. The irritation that would usually accompany ceasing to blink was gone, gone as if it never existed, for the two of them were far too engrossed in this, far too distanced from reality to feel anything else or focus on anything else that wasn't the other one.

"Well, then..." said Renji. "I guess we both messed up, then..." unconsciously, he began to move closer to her, leaning in slowly as the small distance between their faces gradually began closing, and he could start to feel her tiny puffs of breath on his face.

"So, we're both at fault, then..." replied Rukia, and the small girl, without realizing it, also started slowly swaying towards the larger man seated beside her, her facing tilting up higher to angle reasonably towards his own features. As could he, she could also feel his breath, fanning lightly over her face and warming her pale skin. "I guess we both owe the other an apology..." All they could do now was lean closer and closer, the space that separated growing smaller and smaller with each passing moment.

"I'll forgive you..." he promised. "If you'll forgive me as well, that is..." they were almost there now, the space was almost void...and Renji's eyes were half-lidded now, slowly shutting themselves more as they continued.

"Then I suppose...I suppose I forgive you as well..." Rukia's eyes were also only a small bit away from closing completely, and there lips were so close now...even their noses were touching, brushing softly against the other one as they went on. Almost there...their lips began quivering in anticipation as they were only a millimeter's length apart now, vision blurred, as their eyes were the same distance from shutting...

QUACK!

The couple snapped apart, only now remembering that there was an outside world, as they both quickly looked at the duck in front of the bench. They were both panting heavily, partly from the raising of their heartbeats due to their almost kiss which they only now noticed, and partly from the scare the duck had caused them. The bird was just sitting there, now, as if it were expecting something from them, staring at the two intently. Suddenly a light bulb went off in Rukia's head.

"I think...I think it wants the bread..." she looked beside her to the quarter-left loaf of white bread enclosed in a plastic bag. They had bought it earlier to feed ducks when their relatives were present, but now there was a duck sitting right in front of them, asking for more with it's stare and the occasional quack. Rukia picked up the bag, the majority of it empty and hanging idly by where the twist tie had been tied due to the small amount of the actual contents that was left. The small girl untwisted the plastic tie, reaching inside the bag and retrieving one of the pre-cut slices from the loaf. She handed it to the small creature, making sure that her fingers weren't bitten as the duck accepted the food gratefully, waddling off happily to rejoin its companions at the bank of the small pond.

It was only then that Rukia remembered what had just occurred between her and Renji, and she could feel the warm blood rise up to her face. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him. He was already staring at her, a slight blush also adorning his own face. Seeing him made Rukia's slight flush expand, nearly encompassing her whole face as the shade of red deepened to a bright scarlet. Neither spoke.

Suddenly, something caught Renji's attention from the corner of his eye, and his head whipped around to examine the sudden intrusion. He squinted, trying to make out the slowly approaching figures, before he realized that it was his aunt and Rukia's nii-sama. Rukia leaned forward so she could also see, and obviously she also made out who it was, because she immediately leaned back, stiffening her posture so that she was sitting straight up in her chair, as she folded her hands neatly in her lap. Renji also leaned back, making himself look presentable, however not acting as proper and polite as she. They exchanged glances, quickly, and then looked straight forward. Both knew that no matter how much they wanted to talk this over now, it would just have to wait until their next meeting.

* * *

Renji plopped down on his futon, bowing his head as he cradled it in his hands. He was still feeling the effects of it, still feeling that drunken feeling that he had had when there lips had come so close to meeting. So close...he touched his lips lightly, wondering what it would've felt like if they had made contact with her own. He could almost imagine it, the softness that he was sure there would have been. He had that feeling again...he had never felt anything like it before. He knew what it was, though, even though it wasn't the easiest thing to admit...he was pretty sure he was falling for this chick...and even though they hadn't known each other very long, it was somehow happening. They had barely even conversed, yet by the few pieces of dialogue they had exchanged...by the few gestures that had taken place...he felt like he knew her, probably because she was so much like himself.

Strong, proud, confidant, hotheaded, but also with an honest and kind heart. Yes, that seemed to describe her up to now. He was sure that there was also so much more to her, that she was so much more deep and complex than that, but still... And the fact that she had been repulsed at the ideas of these meetings just as much as he...it meant that she was honest, and also wanted something meaningful, something based off of love and compassion. _Maybe_...he thought, going back to that moment. Her eyes, her wonderful eyes that he couldn't bear to look away from, they were filled with such emotion, as much as he was sure that his eyes held. He had feelings for her now, he knew. To what extent, he didn't know, but...he still knew that he had them period. The thing that he didn't know, was if her feelings were similar to his or not. But the way she had looked at him...Renji shook his head, knowing that she could've just been caught up in the moment, dismissing the thoughts so that they didn't drive him mad. For now, he decided, he would leave it be; when they next met, he wouldn't mention it, he would act as if it never occurred, and see what she had to say. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about it, it was just...he really didn't know, but he just felt like that would be the best course of action for now.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Renji's head turned to the door, replying with a,

"Come in, door's open." The door opened as soon as he had given the visitor the okay, and as expected the person who came walking through the room was his aunt, smiling as always. She closed the door behind her, walking closer until she was directly in front of her nephew.

"May I sit down?" she asked politely. Renji turned his whole body to face her, answering immediately,

"Of course, Aunt Retsu." She did so, sitting with the underside of her shins folded underneath her thighs and placing her hands gracefully in her lap. Renji was trying to internally clear his head now, trying to forget about it so that his aunt didn't become suspicious.

"So, Renji," she began, tearing him from his thoughts. "How are you liking Miss Kuchiki? You seem to be fond of her, as this is the first woman whom you have agreed to attend more than one meeting with." She seemed even more cheerful than usual, Renji thought. This was probably why. The fact that he didn't seem to be upset about meeting with Rukia.

"Well..." he tried to think of something for a minute, something that would suffice as satisfying for his aunt, but that wouldn't expose his feelings. In the time in which he paused to do it, he noticed that Unohana's face seemed to drop a bit, as if she was sensing doubt in him. But it lit right back up as he answered her.

"She's much more...pleasant to be around than the others that I have conversed with, and I do enjoy her company," he said with a smile. He could tell that his aunt was very pleased at his answer, for her smile grew even bigger at his answer. And it wasn't like Renji was lying...what he said was the truth, he was just...leaving some parts out. Yeah, that was it.

"That is very good," continued the woman in front of him. "Because you two will be entirely alone for the next meeting." Renji's eyes widened. Shit. Now he might be screwed. But the redhead didn't show it of course, instead he just pretended to be all the happier, putting on another smile even though he was freaking out inside.

"That's great!" he exclaimed. His aunt seemed extremely pleased at his fake enthusiasm, standing up to depart with a very joyful aura surrounding her. As soon as the sound of her footsteps disappeared down the hallway, Renji let the panic take over.

"Dammit!" he whispered aloud to himself. They would meet and be alone the whole time...that meant that he wouldn't have a scapegoat to stall for like the relatives coming back. He might have to reveal some things to her if she got curious enough...

Renji was truly dreading what was to come.

* * *

As soon as they were home, Rukia had burst inside, running upstairs at an ungodly rate to gather her thoughts in the hallway bathroom. As soon as she was in, she slammed the door shut, and nearly collapsed into a sitting position on the closed toilet, not even bothering to fold her dress underneath her legs first. She could still feel the tingly sensation from her earlier encounter with Renji, and her legs still felt a little weak. _Renji..._ she thought back to it, remembering the feelings that had surged through her at that moment. The fact that she had wanted to kiss him, had wanted to feel his lips against hers...she knew what it meant. She knew that she at least had a crush on this guy, but still couldn't tell if it was more than that or not. The small girl sighed, leaning back against the toilet as she pondered what to do.

What she had seen in his dark brown eyes...she had seen some kind of similar feelings, she thought, but...there was no way to be sure if he felt the same or not. She wasn't even sure why she herself had developed feelings for that big baboon. From the time they had had together, she had guessed that his personality was similar to hers: iron-willed, stubborn, tough as nails, but also with a soft side that was rarely shown. Yep, that sounded like him based off what she had gathered from the short time they had known each other. And the reason that he hated the meetings with a vengeance, just like herself...it surely meant that he wanted a real relationship consisting of love...not something fake and shallow to please family elders. Even though she hadn't figured out exactly why or how she had feelings for Renji, she did still have to figure out how to go about discussing the earlier events of that day with him What was she to do?

After thinking it over a bit, she decided. She would keep this to herself for now. She didn't know why she felt that this was the best course of action, but she just felt as if that was what she should do for now. The small girl stood up, turning to depart. Her small hand grasped the brass knob of the door, before turning it, and swinging said door open, only to be met with the clothed chest of a man. She looked up to identify this visitor, discovering that it was her nii-sama, his fist held in midair, no doubt preparing to knock if she had taken too much time in the restroom.

"Oh, nii-sama," she said, allowing her actual surprise to meld with fake surprise so as not to alert her brother of her thoughts. It would be very bad, she knew, if her brother of all people grew suspicious.

"Perfect timing, Rukia," he said, lowering his hand. He had that same look on his face that he always had and that was his trademark: A cold, emotionless look, and eyes so stoic that you could swear you could die in front of him in that moment and he wouldn't even be fazed by it.

"Rukia, are you enjoying the company of Mr. Abarai?" he asked her. Rukia was surprised by the question, slightly taken aback by his bluntness and suddenness of this admission, and also shocked that he was allowing the conversation to go on here of all places, in between a doorway, instead of having them move to an actual room first.

"Well, nii-sama...he is a nice man, and I do much prefer being in his company to being in the company of the other men whom I have met," she answered quickly, sure not to give her brother any leeway to be suspicious. And it wasn't like she _wasn't_ telling the truth...she was just twisting it a little bit.

"Very well," he replied. "I expected as much, for this is the first man whom you have not immediately rejected after the first meeting." Rukia was trying to keep her cool, and succeeding as far as she herself was concerned. But trying to keep one's cool in front of her nii-sama when you were hiding something you didn't want him to know about was fairly difficult, especially when you were having a conversation with him only two feet away, and he was staring right at you.

"There is also something else, as well," he added, making Rukia arch an eyebrow.

"Nii-sama?" she asked expectantly, wanting the know what there could be that she didn't know about.

"You shall be meeting with by yourself for the next meeting, and the two of you shall be alone for the whole of it." Rukia had to stop her eyes from widening, as fear tore through her. This was not good, she knew, but the dominant thought in her mind was that she had to hide the fact that she was panicking inside.

"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed happily. "I'm looking forward to it!" She had to force herself to keep a joyful, toothy smile as her brother's aura changed to that of approval.

"I am glad to hear as much," he said, and with that he was gone, departing down the steps to go meet with Hisana for dinner. Rukia's smile dropped as soon as he was out of earshot and eye shot. _Shit, shit, shit... _This was bad. This was very bad. Now she had nothing to bail her out if the conversation went to the matters of what had happened earlier. The small girl knew that she might have to tell Renji some things she would rather not...

Rukia sighed, fearing what was to come.

END OF CHAPTER 3

Well, chap 3. How do you like? I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does, and I love and appreciate all opinions!


	4. One in a million: chapter 4

Here it is, chappy 4. SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG, but I've got some writer's block, plus it's the holiday season, so, yeah...anyways, this is really turning out to be a fun and interesting fic to write, and I hope you all enjoy it just as much!

One in a million: chapter 4

Rukia walked briskly through the bustling city streets, her fast pace caused by the nervousness of her meeting with Renji which was due in an hour. Just an hour...the small girl could feel the butterflies fluttering already, even though right now the task at hand was meeting up with Orihime at the coffee shop. She was sure that her face was engulfed in bright scarlet, but she couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. The fact that she would be with Renji, alone, for what might be 2 hours, after what had happened the other day...Rukia ducked her head to conceal the fact that her blush was deepening. But she quickly reminded herself that she couldn't mention that, she had to just act like it had never happened, and wait and see if he would bring it up.

_Not like I can really brush it off with the way I'm acting now_, she thought, sighing. It would be a bit hard to conceal her feelings if her face was hot and red for the entire thing. Placing her hand on the flat door handle, Rukia pushed the door open to be met with a quaint, pleasant coffee shop; it was the place she and Orihime always went to hang out and chat. As she entered, she heard, as always, the ring of the bell that hung over top the door, alerting the staff that a new customer had just arrived.

The shop was small in size, so Rukia was able to spot Orihime instantly; not to mention that the minute Rukia walked in the door Orihime practically shouted,

"Rukia! Over here, I've got menus!" Her joyful statement was accompanied by a wave, causing Rukia to smile, though she was still nervous and flustered. She always did love Orihme's happiness; it really could cheer you up in an instant.

Suddenly, Rukia's phone rung, belting out her loud ring tone in the middle of the store, disrupting the peaceful aura of the place. Rukia mouthed a 'sorry' to Orihime, and then went outside the store to take the call.

Retrieving the phone from her pocket with a frustrated sigh, the small girl flipped it open, noticing just before she raised it to the side of her face that it was an unknown number. _Probably some damn telemarketers..._ she thought. But she was surprised at who _was_ on the phone.

"Yo, Rukia, would you mind meeting me at the path now, instead of later? I know it's short notice, but..."

"Uh, sure, Renji...sure, I can do that," replied Rukia, astonished that Renji, of all people, had called her, and to meet with him early no less. A flash of fear went through her. Was it maybe to talk about what had happened? Wait...a sudden thought overwhelming that fact came to mind.

"Renji, how did you get my-" he hung up before she could finish her question, and Rukia growled. That was just plain impolite. She turned around to go into the store real quick and tell Orihime what was up, but the auburn haired girls smile from the other side of the glass windows said that she already understood.

Mouthing a 'thank you', Rukia turned towards the direction of where the pathway she and Renji were set to meet at was located. She hoped dearly that nothing bad would happen, but also knowing that it would be hard to hide what was on her mind if she didn't find a way to cool down.

* * *

Renji paced around the entrance of the pathway. What had possessed him to call Rukia to come an hour early he didn't know, but he was pretty sure it was because he just wanted the nervous waiting to be over with. Anything, he thought, was better than going over every possibility of what could go wrong in his head...

Renji shook his head, trying to rid his mind of these troubling thoughts. _Calm down_, he told himself. _Everything's going to be fine...just don't mention it, she won't either..._ but no matter how much Renji wanted that to be true, he knew that it probably wasn't.

Not only that, but Renji had a blush on his face, and knew that in this state it would be hard to conceal the fact, that, well...that he was kinda horny because of their previous encounter. And it would be hard to conceal in more ways than one, he thought, knowing that his body would also react in ways that were...unfavorable to him at this time.

"Um, Renji..." a voice from behind snapped Renji back into reality as he whirled around and looked down at her tiny form. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, he saw, a change from what he was used to seeing her in, a summer dress. Luckily, the shock from her sudden intrusion on his thoughts had overridden his nervousness, and he was calmed down at the moment.

"Well..." he said, trying to act unfazed. "I see that you have a change in wardrobe today..." he smiled, still trying to act normal. Rukia herself had ran part of the way here, but not so much that she would become sweaty and dirty. Thankfully, the exercise had worked in her favor, and she was okay at the moment.

"Yeah," she answered his question effortlessly. "When there's not an escort I can get away with wearing what I want." _Okay... _she thought. _He hasn't mentioned it yet...I'm __in the clear for now..._

"So, um, you wanna start down the path?" asked Renji. Rukia nodded, following him as they strolled through the forest path. Walking together, it was strikingly obvious how much their sizes differed. The very top of her head only went up to about the bottom of his chest, right above where his abdomen started, and being around someone so tall made Rukia feel even smaller than usual.

As they got into the part where the trees were, they were mostly engulfed in faint shadows, the only light there was coming in uneven specks through the spaces in the canopy of trees. The soft crunch of leaves could also be heard beneath their feet as they walked pleasantly along, in the warm summer air. The occasional squeak of a squirrel or chipmunk or croak of a frog accompanied their conversation-less walk, until finally the silence was broken.

"So, Renji..." inquired Rukia. "I'm curious...how did you get into this whole mess of arranged marriage meetings?" Renji took a minute to shuffle her question around in his brain a bit, trying to contemplate whether to tell Rukia the truth about his sweet, lovable aunt scaring the shit out of him. After a few seconds, he decided, why not; it wasn't like things could get more awkward between them.

"Well..." he began, "My aunt Retsu is forcing me. She said that I should grow up and try to find a woman, so that I can take responsibility and really become a man." Renji was barely able to finish his sentence before Rukia burst out into giggles.

"A man!" she asked between giggles. "But your 20! What kind of 20-year-old becomes a man!" The small girl was holding her stomach now, doubled over and almost falling onto the ground, although still able to walk, as she continued to laugh her ass off. Renji's eye twitched in irritation, though he managed to maintain his control, as he replied,

"Yeah, that's my aunt. She's kinda old-fashioned like that." He paused, before adding, "Now that I've told you my reason, I wanna hear yours. What are you in for?" Rukia immediately straightened up, as her chuckles subsided, and her gaze forward went cold.

"It's my step dad," she said, almost bitterly. Renji could tell this was something that pained her, and wanted to stop her from going on so that she wouldn't reveal something she didn't want to.

"Rukia," he said, before she could add on to her statement. "If you don't want to talk about it...it's okay, I mean...I can see that this is upsetting you so-"

"-No, it's fine," interrupted Rukia, internally touched that he was being so considerate of her feelings. "It's probably a good thing to talk about...I can let it out, you know..." Renji nodded, looking back up at the path as she began speaking.

"My sister and I lived in the streets until I was 5, and then my sister married Byakuya Kuchiki. As an extension, I was also adopted into the clan, and from then on I was Kuchiki Rukia. My stepfather loved me and my sister very much, like we were his very own daughters. But right before he died, he added something to his will. It said that he wanted for me to be married or engaged by the age of 20. No one really knows why it is...it really was a huge shock. And right now I'm 19, and I turn 20 in a few months, so...yeah, the family is trying to set me up. And even though I really do love my father, and I want one of his dying wishes to be fulfilled..." she paused here, as this part was considering the elders harassment, which was the part that upsetted her the most about this whole thing.

Renji waited as she paused, and was about ready to tell her that she didn't have to continue, but she spoke again before he could do it.

"I just...I hate being pressured so much...most of the family...they're just, they're harassing me so much, putting all this pressure on me, trying to force me into this, and it's just so stressful and..." Rukia voice began cracking, as unexpected tears began rolling down her cheeks. She didn't know why she was getting so emotional, didn't know why what was usually anger and hatred was coming out as sadness and depression. She had talked tidbits about to Orihime and some of her other friends, but right now she was just breaking down into tears, as this was the first time she was actually spilling her guts to someone like this. Her stress and emotions had reached a breaking point, and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Wow, hey...I-I'm sorry...it's okay...it's okay, you can stop talking...just-just calm down!" Renji said frantically, as he had never dealt with this kind of thing before, and he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do to comfort her. Rukia continued to cry, hard, tears running down her face and dripping down her chin as she ceased walking, and just stood there with her tears falling down onto the dirt path. Renji stopped as well, still trying to think of a way that he could stop her from crying.

Not also that, but he began to find that seeing her cry miserably like this was breaking his heart, and it was getting increasingly harder to watch as this girl he cared for(though he still didn't know how he could as much as he did through the short amount of time they had spent together)blubbering on, continuing to stand there in pain. And suddenly, Renji's protective instinct kicked in, and before either of them knew it, he was before her, bending down and embracing her lovingly.

Rukia was struck speechless, the stream of her tears immediately ceasing in surprise, as she felt Renji's warm arms wrap around her.

"R-Renji..." Rukia felt speechless, and could feel the heat begin rising to her cheeks. Bracing her tiny, loosely-balled fists against Renji's shirt, she pushed away from him slightly, enough so she could look him in the eye. Before he could give her a look of hurt and rejection, their lips were locked, Rukia on her tiptoes and able to reach him since he was bent down.

Neither of them had time to think or consider anything. Rukia had kissed him before she had known it, and Renji, in turn, had responded immediately, wrapping his arms tighter around her, one hand coming to the back of her head, and burying in her soft hair, also not even thinking about it. Rukia's arms came up to snake around his neck, and they lost themselves in each other.

When the lack of air became too much too handle, they reluctantly broke apart, and stared, breathless, at the other. Slowly, at the same time, smiles broke out across both their faces.

* * *

Unohana was sitting pleasantly in the nice den of her home. She was drinking warm tea from a decorated cup whose matching plate lay just in front of her, on the fancy coffee table that was set just in front of the cushioned chair she was seated in. It was a nice afternoon, Renji was gone at his meeting...

Suddenly, a loud ring emanated throughout her house, the sound of doorbell being pressed upon by visitors that awaited her outside. Setting down her tea, she stood up, strolling through the different rooms until she reached the one which her front door was in.

"Yes?" she asked, opening the room to two men who wore black suits and sunglasses. Their hair was slicked back neatly, and one of them held a briefcase. Unohana's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Unohana," spoke one of them, causing her eyes to snap up to his face. "We are here to discuss something with you."

END OF CHAPTER 4

Again, VERY sorry for taking so long, I am planning on updating Byakuya's Schemes and 100 RenRuki oneshots soon. I don't own Bleach, Tite Kubo does, and I love and appreciate all opinions!


	5. One in a million: chapter 5

Finally, a new chapter. Who are the mysterious people that want to talk to Unohana? All will be revealed. ALSO fic now marked Romance/Drama-I feel that drama is more suiting, as there isn't a _huge_ amount of humor in this, and I might go into some more serious aspects later. Enjoy!

One in a Million: chapter 5

"Miss Unohana," began one of the men once she had let them in, "I assume you have gathered that we are from the government."

"Yes, I have gathered as much," she answered, taking a seat in one of the cushioned chairs in the room, and ushering the men to sit as well. They did so, after which the other spoke.

"I am Szayel Aporro Grantz, and this is my colleague, Sosuke Aizen. We are here to speak about matters concerning your nephew, Renji Abarai." Unohana's eyes narrowed. She knew that this day would come eventually, and she had been dreading it for the past 18 years.

"I assume that his mother has finally run out of money for her "prescription" painkillers and now wants to rob him of his inheritance so she can purchase more, correct?" Unohana's words cut through the air with venomous intent, however Szayel and Aizen did not seem to notice. She wished that they weren't wearing sunglasses so she could better asses the amount of fear she was stirring within them.

"Subtract the derogatory terms and phrases, and you are correct, Miss Unohana," said Aizen. "Mr. Abarai's mother wishes to contact him."

"I will not allow her to see him," replied Unohana. "That woman has lost the right to be called his mother. The court ordered for her to stay away from him." Anger was rising within Unohana now, and she knew that this might mean trouble.

"In case you do not remember, Miss Unohana," began Szayel, "That order was deemed null and void two years ago, when Mr. Abarai turned 18. As he is an adult, social services has no obligation to step in, and you have no legal guardianship over him."

"She is still in prison, is she not?" asked Retsu. "Though he may be allowed to go to her, she cannot come to him." She was desperate now, trying everything in an attempt to get these men to give up on this matter.

"She has been released on good behavior." Good behavior? Unohana was curious as to how her sister-in-law could pull a hoax like _that _off.

"She will not see him," she repeated. "I will not allow her to ruin Renji's life as she did his father's."

"You are legally obligated to give us knowledge of his whereabouts," said Szayel. "She is threatening to sue if you do not give up the information." Unohana's glare was so hard it almost burned a hole through the bodies of her visitors.

"And besides, does he not wish to know what has become of his mother?" added Aizen.

"No," she answered firmly.

"And why would that be?" Both officials were obviously curious, and though Unohana did not wish to tell them the reason, she also did not wish to be arrested for misinforming an officer.

"Because he believes that she is dead."

* * *

"So...we are a couple now, right?" asked Rukia.

"Yep." They were walking down the remainder of the path now, and Rukia was tucked up to Renji's side, clinging to his arm, her tiny hands firmly latched on to the tattooed appendage.

"Good," she replied happily. "But just know that if you thought otherwise, I would knock your teeth out." Renji smiled at the joke.

"Same goes for you."

"Oh _really_?" she inquired. "Mr. polite manly-man would beat up a girl? Maybe I should stay away from you..." She let go of him, and jumped to the other side of the path while they both continued to stroll along, smiles on their faces from the playful banter they were engaging in.

"Oh no you don't," he protested, reaching over to lightly grab her arm before pulling her back to his side, and then surprising the small girl as he slung her over his shoulder, both actions done in one fluid movement.

"H-Hey!" snapped Rukia, struggling against Renji's tight grip on her lower back. "What was that for! Put me down!" She glared at the back of his head indignantly, hating the fact that she was helpless when faced with his much-stronger-than-hers grip.

"What, you mean you don't wanna be carried around and treated like a princess?" he asked. "I thought all girls wanted to be treated like princesses." He chuckled, amused by her ongoing and futile attempts to break free from his grasp.

"You have got to be kidding me," said Rukia flatly, immediately not believing that he honestly thought that.

"Yeah," he said. "But it was a good try, right?"

"No." The response was immediate, cold, and harsh, and there was only one thing Renji could think. _Damn, she really is different than other girls, isn't she?_

"You're really cold, aren't you?" It was meant as a half-joke, however Renji could tell that Rukia knew he was semi-serious.

"I'm only cold to idiots," she replied, finally realizing that struggling was going to get her no where.

"Oh, so I'm an idiot, am I?" Slowly, while keeping one hand on her mid-section to hold her still, Renji raised the other up to lightly scratch his short nails across her back, sending ticklish shivers all throughout the small girl's body. She yelped, obviously disapproving of his wicked actions, and began struggling once more, involuntarily squealing and giggling.

"Stop it!" she tried to snap when she got a chance, but it came out as more of a ridiculous plea doe to her state.

"You know what, okay. I think I've had my fill of torturing midgets for the day." Almost instantly, Renji ceased his actions, letting his now free hand drop back down to dangle by his side.

Rukia panted rapidly, attempting to quell her erratic breathing after the tortuous tickle attack, and already formulating ways to get him back. As soon as her heartbeat calmed, she asked to be let down.

Surprised that she was actually asking for something nicely, Renji decided to comply, lifting his arm and ceasing his stride as he allowed her to slide off of his shoulder.

From the combination of pushing herself off of him in a direction in which she would land and the 2 feet she had to drop to get to the ground, Rukia shirt was pushed up to where the hem was just below her chest, revealing her flat stomach and belly button.

As soon as her feet hit the ground, though, Rukia had pulled down the garment, probably hoping that he hadn't noticed. But he had. The large man couldn't help the image that flashed through his mind of her without any shirt on at all, and he bit back a blush as he involuntarily imagined even dirtier things involving the both of them.

"Likes?" asked Rukia suddenly, as she began walking ahead of him. Renji was snapped from his daydream, as he stumbled slightly to catch up with her.

"What?"

"What are your likes?" she repeated. "What are your dislikes? I'm ashamed to say that we really haven't talked about that kind of stuff yet." Renji immediately understood what she meant, and he thought for a moment, trying to create a sufficient list of such things.

"Well...I guess, I like tattoos-"

"-Obviously." A scowl was directed Rukia's way, before Renji continued.

"I like poker, eating, sleeping, sunglasses, monkeys, snakes, and, um...that's it." Rukia stared at him halfway between disbelief and suspicion before stating,

"Really? For some reason, I'm not really that surprised." Renji shot her an indignant glare, before continuing on by listing his dislikes.

"Let's see...I dislike jerks, whores, snobs, my aunt's ability to scare someone into submission, and these damn arranged marriage meetings." To this, most girls in Rukia's position would have gone on with a rant about how Renji hated them at his last statement. They would say things like, 'oh what, you mean you dislike that we met!' or 'WHAT! But we met because of these!' Rukia understood though.

In fact, Renji even seemed to realize what he had said right after he said it, and he looked over to Rukia with fear present in his eyes. Showing him that it was alright, the petite girl gave him a smile and a warm look, something that was rare for her(especially nowadays.) Renji's face reflected relief, before turning back towards the direction of the pathway.

"Specify what you mean by whores," said Rukia, suddenly and unexpectedly. Renji was thoroughly dumbfounded, and his face plainly showed it.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what kind of whores do you hate? The professional ones, ones that just are, what?" Her question was confusing, and Renji had a bit of a tough time trying to come up with an accurate and reasonable answer to what she was asking, let alone trying to fathom the reason she would want to know such things.

"Well, I mean, I've never really encountered a professional whore..." Rukia looked over at him, quirking an eyebrow.

"Really? I kinda thought that you, you know...might've gotten really horny one night and called one at least once..."

"No, never," he said, surprised that he wasn't angered at her statement. He couldn't really blame her. What with all the men she must've met who probably looked at her like an object whom they wanted to screw the brains out of, she probably had a bit of a misconception about them, especially the younger and richer ones who were like himself. Though, to be fair, he _was _a rarity-the majority of guys his age, especially the ones with as much money as he had, had been in bed with innumerable amounts of prostitutes.

"I mean," Renji blurted out suddenly, before he even knew it, "I'm..." His statement ended in indiscernible mumbles, and Rukia leaned in a bit closer in an attempt to hear him.

"What was that?" Renji gulped, having a hard time working up the courage to repeat the statement in a louder voice as his face flushed slightly.

"I'm...a virgin..." he said, just loud enough for Rukia to hear him, and the small girl's eyes widened. She certainly never expected that he was that. Even though she knew he just didn't want to throw away sex, she had thought that he had had at least one meaningful relationship before they had met.

"There's nothing wrong with that," she insisted. "I mean...I'm a virgin." At this, Renji was only slightly astonished, simply because of the fact that not only was Rukia fucking beautiful, but she was 19 years old.

"Yeah...but your a girl," he argued. "It's different."

"Oh really?" asked Rukia in a slightly clipped tone, her brow creasing. "And please explain that logic to me, Mr. Know-it-all." Renji only blushed more at her words.

"Well, I mean...with guys, it's kinda part of the, you know...the guy code that your supposed to lose your virginity as soon as possible...and I'm 20, so..." Rukia laughed loudly at his words, too amused to be pissed off by his ridiculous source of embarrassment.

"You have no idea how stupid that sounds!" she exclaimed, continuing to wail as his flush brightened.

"Sh-shut up!" he stuttered awkwardly, voice cracking slightly due to his state. "You don't get it!"

At the last part, Rukia wanted to burst out into harder laughter, but forced herself to calm down so they could continue their conversation. Realizing that she was done teasing him, but still indignantly looking away from her, Renji spoke again.

"To answer your question, whores that are just whores disgust me," he said. "They live for greed and money and don't even have the capability to love." Rukia could hear the seriousness in his voice, and listened carefully, discarding her air of joking as she realized that they were speaking about some not-so-funny matters now.

"Though, I do kind of feel bad for the professional ones on the streets," he continued. "The ones who smoke and are addicted to diet pills. You know, they're skin's sickly pale and they just look miserable. I feel sorry for them because I know that a lot of them are forced to do it just to live."

"Yeah," agreed Rukia. "I know what you mean." There was silence, before Renji broke it.

"So, what are your 'likes?'" he asked, turning his head back in her direction and smirking down at her.

"I like chappy the rabbit, cucumbers, pineapples, and juice." The statement was short, sweet, and simple, and Renji's jaw went slack at her rather small list of likes.

"And you said there wasn't a lot of stuff I liked..." he commented, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Whatever," replied the female, completely unfazed by the fact. "As for dislikes, I hate perverts, douche bags, shallow people, and the majority of my family. And also, these stupid-ass meetings." Renji recognized that, just like himself, she didn't mean anything by the last part, and he couldn't stop himself from saying,

"So what kind of perverts do you dislike? Old, creepy ones? Rich, prostitute-loving ones? Or just perverts in general?" Realizing that he had turned the tables, Rukia smiled at his jest, replying,

"No category specifically. I just hate perverts in general." Renji silently cursed, slightly upset that he couldn't egg her on nearly as much as she could him, buy brushed it off. He was having way too good a time to be angry or upset right now.

The rest of the walk was silent, and soon, Renji and Rukia reached the end of the pathway, where there was open space. One way led to Renji's house, the opposite to Rukia's. Out of the shade and canopy of trees, the two stopped, glancing at each other almost awkwardly.

"We are supposed to kiss goodbye now or something, right?" asked Rukia, looking up at him expectantly. He returned her gaze with his own, blushing slightly, and saying,

"If you want to, I guess." Rukia smiled at his words.

"Come here, idiot." Grabbing the front of his shirt, Rukia pulled him down to her level, closing some of the distance herself as she stood up as far as she could go on tiptoes, and pressed their lips together.

Almost instantly, the kissing increased in passion and depth, and this kiss was much more passionate than the first one. Their tongues battled fiercely, as they explored each others mouths, and on impulse Renji slid his arms around Rukia's waist and lifted her to his height, her arms going around his neck tightly in response.

This kiss was much different. Both individuals felt something they never had before. They both felt a new and unusual level of need and yearning spread throughout them, and it was accompanied by an unfamiliar and pleasurable warmth that seeped through their bodies, more specifically their lower regions.

But at last, the lack of air overrode the passion, and they were forced to break apart. Only as their heads cleared did they realize that a new form of longing had taken over, and both of them felt the need for more.

But, as they had their right minds in tact again, both of them knew that if they did engage in anything like that, they needed to be on a much more emotional level. And despite the physical need, Renji and Rukia both knew that they hadn't reached that state of affection yet, so Renji swiftly put her down, after which she composed herself quickly, and then they exchanged goodbyes and a chaste kiss before turning so that their backs were facing each other, and walking to their homes as the sun set over the land.

END OF CHAPTER 5

Gah, I finally updated this after over a month of stalling. I'm a bad person, I know...Well, anyways, Bleach is not mine, it is Tite Kubo's, and I love and appreciate all comments and opinions!

P.S. ANONYMOUS REVIEWS NOW ENABLED!


	6. One in a million: chapter 6

Yay, it only took me about 3 weeks! Not something to gloat about, but way better than I have been doing. I'm finally catching up on my stories! ^_^ Enjoy!

One in a million: chapter 6

Unohana pulled on her jacket, preparing to leave her residency for the night. Renji was lounging in the basement, talking to his friends, Ikkaku and Shuuhei. The woman felt her heart tug painfully at the thought of his mother, and at that fact that he would have to meet with her soon.

"_You have a month to produce the information, before we will resort to force."_

The words echoed in her mind ominously, and had been plaguing her mind since yesterday, when the agents had left just yesterday. When Renji had come home, he had been happy, so happy...she didn't have it in her to tell him the truth and spoil his joy, though she knew that she would have to tell him soon. The thought dreaded her, and she was still trying to think of a way to tell him, that was when she decided to actually do it.

And as she stared at the stairs leading down to the basement, the only thing she could think was, _I'm sorry, Renji... _before she departed the house.

* * *

"You said that Rukia was coming over, right?" asked Ikkaku, looking over at his redheaded friend with a bottle of beer in hand. He and Shuuhei had arrived about a half hour ago, and were relaxing on the couch next to him.

"Yeah, she should be by soon," he replied, still jealous that he wasn't quite old enough to drink alcohol, and being forced to be content with soda. He took a drink of his own beverage, and sighed.

"What's the matter?" asked Shuuhei. "Did you lie about her looks her something and now you don't want us to meet her?" It was, of course, a teasing question, however Renji still took some offense.

"I told you, Rukia's gorgeous, okay?" he snapped. "So stop trying to analyze me already and drink your damn beer." Shuuhei did so, grumbling at his friend's clipped tone.

"What's your problem man?" asked Ikkaku. "Calm down, would ya?" Renji took a deep breath, calming himself.

"I dunno," he replied. "I'm probably more nervous than anything. I mean-" he was cut off as the door opened to reveal Rukia, clad in jeans and a baggy T-shirt. Renji immediately smiled at her appearance, and his friends, picking up on this, were amazed at his sudden and unexpected change in mood and aura.

"Hey," he greeted her, standing up only to bend down fairly far so that he could hug her. She returned it, wrapping her small arms around his large frame briefly before they broke apart, Renji walking past her and to the door.

"I've gotta go take a leak," he said. "I'll be back in a few." All three nodded, though it was blatantly obvious that he had directed the words towards Rukia, showing how much attention he paid her. Rukia smiled warmly, before taking a seat between Ikkaku and Shuuhei as Renji left.

"So, you're Renji's new girl, right?" asked Ikkaku, taking a swig from his bottle of beer. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand afterward, and then looked at her, awaiting an answer.

"You could say that, yeah," replied Rukia, standing from the cooler with a diet coke in hand and then going over to rejoin them on the couch.

"What does that mean?" asked Shuuhei, quirking an eyebrow. "Is it more some kind of a 'friends with benefits' type deal?" He hoped that she didn't see it that way, as Renji definitely didn't view it as that.

"No," she reassured quickly. "It's just that 'new girl' can refer to more things than just a girlfriend, and I don't know what Renji's been telling you about me." Rukia hooked her nail under the tab of the soda to raise it slightly, and then finished popping it open with her index finger.

"Well then what do you view your guys's relationship as?" asked Shuuhei, still not sure what her opinion was on the matter.

"A real, boyfriend-girlfriend relationship," she answered simply, taking a sip of coke before setting it down on a coaster atop the coffee table. Both men beside her breathed internal sighs of relief, glad that their friend wasn't being taken advantage of.

"Why?" she asked suddenly. "Has he been through a really bad break up or something?" Her hands moved to rest on the edge of the couch cushions as she anticipated her answer.

"Nah," replied Ikkaku. "He's never really been _with _with a girl before. And the few that he has had a little romance with were never really serious, so it's not like he was head over heels and got his heart broken." Another swig of beer, and then Shuuhei decided to speak.

"He's just sensitive. God knows how emo he would become if anything like that _did _happen. But really, he's a real emotional guy. You haven't seen how upset he gets when he rants about all the girls he has to meet and how shallow and slutty they are." Rukia gave Shuuhei a look, wondering the obvious, and both men immediately got the message.

"H-He hasn't said any of that about _you_, though," the dark-haired man assured. "Just about all the others that he met before you." Rukia, who had been half-joking about the glare in the first place, believed him immediately, and took another sip of her beverage, allowing the cool liquid to flood over the rim of the can and down her throat before setting it down again.

"I figured as much," she said. "He told me that he was a virgin, and he's told me a little about how he really doesn't like the meetings." Ikkaku and Shuuhei were both surprised that Renji had revealed something like that about himself so quickly, as it was usually a subject he stayed away from, most likely because of the teasing that he endured from all of the guys, every one of which having been in bed with a girl many times.

Just then, said man walked through the door, closing the it lightly behind him before plopping down on the large couch directly beside Rukia, and wrapping an arm around her almost possessively as he tucked her into his side. It was obvious that he was a bit suspicious of his two friends at the moment.

"What's with the glare?" asked Ikkaku indignantly. "We didn't hit on your girlfriend, now calm down!" With sarcasm lacing her tone, Rukia piped up,

"It's fine, Renji. They didn't do anything. I know that your male ego needs the satisfaction, so I'm giving it to you." Chuckles were earned from the two men on either side of the couple, while Renji's eye twitched with anger. Rukia simply giggled to herself, cuddling further into him.

"Yeah, dude, I'd think that you'd trust us by now," laughed Shuuhei, patting his friend on the back with a smile.

"I do," said Renji, not at all relinquishing his hold on Rukia, "But I also know that out of all of my male friends, you guys are the perviest and horniest."

Before the conversation could progress further, the door was practically slammed open, and a flustered blonde woman accompanied by two other men entered the room. She was beautiful, gigantic breasts and unbelievable curves, with a goddess-like face and aquamarine eyes. One of the men accompanying her had short, layered black hair and wore feathers on his eyes, while emitting an air of superiority and arrogance over the whole room. The other man looked a bit more shy, with blonde hair that was combed down in the front to cover half of his face.

"The hell are you guys doin' here!" exclaimed Renji; he seemed even further displeased at the fact that the blonde woman seemed to be intoxicated. She half-stumbled over to stand before the couple, observing for a moment before loudly announcing in a slurred voice,

"Oh my god, Renji! You're finally gonna loshe your virginity! Yeah, you're gonna take that girl upshtairs and do all kindsh a dirty thingsh to her, aren'tsh ya! Gonna get yershelf sum hancuffsh and whipped cream so you guysh can kink it up and..." At this point, Rukia's face had turned scarlet through and through, and Renji wasn't far behind her. It was as the blonde was doing thrusting hip motions that Renji was able to get over the embarrassment and scream,

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" The yell nearly shook the house, and Rangiku seemed to sober considerably at his anger. She looked at him, dumbfounded, and stated,

"What? Aren't you guys gonna screw late-"

"NO!" he shouted, almost as loudly as his last yell. "WE ARE NOT GOING TO SCREW LATER! WHY IS IT THAT EVERYONE ASSUMES THAT!" He plopped back into the couch cushion, breathing heavily from a combination of being overly angry and slightly straining his voice, as Rangiku realized that the reason it made him so mad was that it might scare off his new lady friend. Looking to Rukia, who was glancing at Renji with concern, Rangiku said,

"So...you're Renji's new girlfriend, right?" She said it as if the incident just seconds ago hadn't happened, and Rukia's face snapped in her direction. Deciding to go with it, and resolving to leave Renji alone until he cooled down, Rukia answered,

"Yeah. I'm Rukia, it's nice to meet you." She held out her small hand, which Rangiku took, shaking it lightly.

"I'm Rangiku. Sorry about my behavior earlier. I hope I didn't embarrass you too much." Oh...so she didn't forget about it. Rukia could tell she was sincere, and so smiled.

"It's alright, I've been through a lot worse." Rukia couldn't help but notice how beautiful this woman's body and face was, and found herself involuntarily wondering if she was one of the girls that Renji had had 'a little romance' with.

"That's good to hear." She smiled, showing teeth, and then promptly shoved Shuuhei out if the spot beside her so that she herself could occupy the space. Said man glared at her from his spot on the floor, and then the two men who had accompanied Rangiku came over to introduce themselves.

"Ayesagawa Yumichika," said the dark-haired one, flipping his hair over to one side with a swift motion of his head. "So you're the Rukia we've been hearing so much about?"

"As long as the oaf over here doesn't have another girlfriend named Rukia locked up in his closet, then yes." She held out her hand for a handshake, and then gave a quizzical look when he seemed to almost repulse at the gesture. Sensing her confusion, he explained,

"I just got a manicure. I can't touch anyone or anything." Though Rukia understood, she was a bit irked that he hadn't at least apologized. Next up for an introduction was the blonde man, who gripped her offered hand lightly in greeting.

"Nice to meet you," he said almost shyly. "Renji's been telling us a lot about you." Rukia smiled at the fact that, based on what everyone was saying, Renji cared for her a lot.

At this point, Renji had regained himself and was back to normal, his first act of being to pull Rukia securely to him once more, his arm wrapping around the whole left side of her torso and across her stomach. Rukia, herself, simply seemed to melt into the warm mass beside her, smiling contentedly.

Rangiku, who was a life long fan of romance and love, couldn't help but internally squee at the sight, and wanted to leave and give the two some alone time.

"Come on, boys!" she said heartily. "Let's get to a club!" She knew that, even if he had wanted to, Renji couldn't' go with them, as he was the only one of the group who was under 21. Everyone else seemed to agree, realizing her motive, and stood to depart, that was except Shuuhei, who said,

"Nah, I'm comfortable he-" he was silenced as Rangiku shot him a death glare, and stood immediately.

"Yeah, let's go." Rangiku seemed satisfied at his obedient reaction, and shoved her companions out the door as Renji and Rukia watched, confused, from their places on the couch. Before leaving herself, the blonde winked at the couple, and then closed the door softly on her way out.

"So, those are your friends..." commented Rukia. "They are quite...interesting." Renji feared that they had overwhelmed her, and was strongly hoping against the worst-case scenario. Catching the frightened look on his face, the small girl chuckled and assure him,

"Calm down, I'm kidding. They're nice. Crazy, but nice." She smiled, and Renji breathed a sigh of relief, mimicking her facial expression.

"Good." He leaned down to kiss her, which she gladly returned, and it wasn't long before it escalated in passion and heat, and both individuals felt the desire rising within them. It ended up that Rukia was half-straddling him, knees planted on either side of one of his legs, as he brought the long appendages up to a criss-cross sitting position, scooting her into his lap so that she now sat in the same style. It wasn't a very comfortable position, and Rukia found her legs aching in protest. Finally, her body won the battle, and she allowed herself to straddle him, squeaking in surprise as she felt something poke against her thigh, and knowing full well what it was.

Before she could contemplate the situation, though, balance was lost, and they fell to lie side by side on the sofa. Their lips broke apart, and they were facing each other, each of their sides sinking into the soft cushion. It was as they were staring into each other's eyes that they realized the reality of the situation. They were alone, in an empty house, with only a small sliver of a chance that someone would be coming by anytime soon.

But, even as they realized this, and even as their bodies demanded more intimate contact, it was again that, with the ability to use one another's eyes as a gateway into each other's hearts, they knew that it was not time. Not yet. They couldn't, not now. They needed to grow more, needed to be at a point where they could do it in confidence that they were truly fated to be. So, Rukia rested her head against his chest tenderly, ready for sleep, while Renji's large hand petted her head. His own eyelids slid shut, and they relaxed, simply basking in each other's presence and body warmth.

And though, guarded by the roof of the house, they could not see it, outside the stars were twinkling bright and lively. It was a beautiful sight for a beautiful night.

End of Chapter 6

Yes, I know, Renji hasn't been told about his mommy yet and Rukia and Renji still haven't done it...but we will get there, I promise! All will be revealed in time...but for right now, my brain is exhausted, since I wrote the majority of this all in one go. lP Anyways, Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, not me, and I love and appreciate all comments and opinions, so feel free to leave 'em!


	7. One in a Million: Chapter 7

Ah, I'm so late! T_T I only thought it had gone for three months, but then I looked at the update time and saw that it was four, and I freaked out! I'm so sorry, I'm such a bad person...but I finally bring an update! :) This chapter has some IchiHime, just warning those of you who might not be cool with that pairing, so...Enjoy!

One in a Million: Chapter 7

"Here we are," said Rukia as she led her redheaded boyfriend through the doors of her favorite cafe, their hands interlocked as a 'ding!' sound came from the bell above the door, signaling their arrival. A few stray customers littered the small joint, a young couple chatting as they nibbled at a pizza, and a man-he looked about their age-pounding on the keys of a laptop, as his no doubt freezing coffee cup sat beside him, forgotten. And then, of course, there was Orihime...and a guy. Rukia's brow crinkled.

"Oi, Orihime," called Rukia, being sure not to shout too loudly; the last thing she wanted was to disturb the quiet atmosphere of the place. Said woman looked up from the mystery man whom she was chatting with, and then she waved a hand in her direction, signaling that she wanted them to come over.

"Come on, Rukia-san!" she encouraged. Rukia, perplexed, abandoned her grip on Renji's hand to walk over to the couple, taking a seat directly next to Orihime. Not surprisingly, Renji followed suit without hesitation, plopping down across from her and next to the guy.

"Kuchiki-san, Abarai-kun..." she said anxiously, looking back and forth at them both, "This is my new boyfriend!" she spread her arms and stretched them towards the man, as if presenting him to an audience. Rukia's eyebrow raised, halfway between suspicion and surprise, while Renji just sat there, perplexed, an aura of confusion emanating from him. And the guy...well, his hair was spiked out all over the place, and colored a bright orange that drew your eye to it almost immediately. He was looking at the new arrivals coldly, almost hatefully, a deep scowl crossing his face as he glared in their direction.

"Oh, Ichigo-kun, don't look so mean!" cried Orihime before either Renji or Rukia could grow angry enough to knock the guy into next week. "You were laughing and smiling with me just a minute ago! What happened?" 'Ichigo-kun' looked to the side, away from the rest of the party, and seemed to think for a minute. Either he decided to cede with Orihime, or he just realized that he was being rude, because his head turned towards their direction again, and the side of his mouth quirked upward into an awkward and obviously-forced smile.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," he said simply, holding his hand out to Rukia. He was forcing a relatively nice tone out, and it almost looked like doing so caused him pain. _At least he's __trying..._ thought Rukia, deciding that she wouldn't beat him up. At least not now. The matter, she conceded to herself, needed more consideration. So she simply grasped his hand, shaking it and putting on a smile(a very easy thing regardless of her mood, thanks to her superb acting skills.) She did, however, talk in her normal voice, not bothering to break out her high-pitched good girl one.

When Ichigo turned to Renji, though, it was a very different story. The taller male was glaring straight back at the orange-haired man, unwilling to come to any kind of compromise without a fight. Suddenly, the redhead felt a sharp kick to the shin, and his eyes flitted over to his raven-haired girlfriend, whose death glare plainly said, 'Suck. It. The fuck. Up.' Renji growled slightly, before gulping and forcing his mouth into a smile. It was actually quite amusing to witness the two men(who obviously wanted to go outside and beat the crap out of each other)commanding civil behavior upon themselves. Orihime's smile drooped.

"I'm sorry about Ichigo-kun, Rukia," apologized Orihime. "He's normally really happy when he and I are together, but whenever someone else comes around, he gets all grumpy like this..." Rukia touched her friend's hand soothingly, shaking her head.

"It's okay, Orihime..." she reassured. "It's not like you can control his behavior, and besides...Renji's not acting any better, so we're even." Neither of the women seemed to care that the very people they were chatting about were only two feet away from them, and the two men were giving them looks crossed between disbelief and indignation.

"I'm acting fine!" protested Renji. "This guy started it!" He jerked a thumb in the direction of Ichigo, who's eyes narrowed threateningly at the man.

"I'm not the one who barged in and just interrupted a conversation!" argued Ichigo back, the two men's faces nearing.

"Whaddaya mean, 'barge in?'" exclaimed Renji. "Rukia and I were _supposed _to come here! The girls had it all set up!" Both men turned their looks on the women across from them, and Orihime blushed.

"I-I'm sorry..." she said, her head bowing as her eyes began to tear up. "It's just, I was having so much fun with Ichigo-kun that I forgot to mention it...please forgive me!" She bowed forward a bit more towards them, hands fisting in her lap. Before Renji could make anything of the situation, Ichigo had rushed to his girlfriend's side, kneeling on the ground as he tried to comfort her.

"It's alright, Hime..." he cooed, rubbing her arm. "I'm not mad, alright?" Said woman looked up, using her finger to wipe away a tear as she stared him in the eyes.

"Oh, Ichigo-kun...you're so good to me!" She practically leapt forward into his arms, embracing him, arms moving to wrap tightly around his neck as her chin met his shoulder.

And as Renji and Rukia watched the two on the ground, they both thought only one thing:_ ...Huh? _

"Uh...we''ll just leave, okay, Orihime?" asked Rukia, feeling a bit awkward as she watched the somewhat personal moment unfold before her. Almost instantly, Orihime broke away from her boyfriend, giving Rukia a look of apology.

"No, you don't have to go, Kuchiki-san...I promise that Ichigo-kun won't act up again..." She looked almost sad, and Rukia certainly didn't want that going on any longer.

"No, it's alright, really..." assured the shorter girl. "I'm not even really hungry, and I think that Renji and I should leave you guys to yourselves." Orihime, though with a bit of doubt still present in her eyes, nodded her consent, and not a second later, Rukia was up out of her chair, not bothering to even push it back in as she dragged Renji out of the shop by his hand.

"But I'm hungry..." whined the redhead as they got further and further from the front door. At this, Rukia sighed, knowing that she wouldn't have any peace until they ate.

* * *

"Are you happy now?" asked Rukia as she and Renji took seats beside one another on the 3rd row of bleachers bordering the old baseball diamond. The diamond, which was normally used for little league games, was desolate today, the only commotion going on being the team of kids practicing in the rather large grass field that surrounded the diamond, so as not to wear out the already-ancient dirt.

"Hell yeah!" exclaimed Renji as his girlfriend handed him his sandwich, which he instantly began unwrapping. Rukia just rolled her eyes in amusement, knowing that his big appetite was just a side effect of what a large guy he was. She, on the other hand, almost never complained about being hungry, since, naturally, being in a wealthy family meant that she always had plenty of food, not to mention the fact that she was much smaller than the average woman.

Suddenly, a baseball, in all its glory, came flying over the bleachers from behind them, and landed near the edge of the bottom set of seats. They stared at it for a moment, dumbfounded, before there was a loud shout from the direction where the children were practicing.

"Oi! Is there anyone over there that can toss that ball back over?" Followed by the yell was the faint voice of another person, saying, 'I'm not sure if anyone is back there, Shunsui...' At the name, Renji perked up, dropping his sandwich as, in one fluid motion, he leapt down to the ground after a small readjustment of position, then scooping up the ball and scurrying back up the bleachers, two at a time, obviously aiming to reach the top. Rukia, stunned by the sudden movement beside her, snapped out of her confusion when she noticed Renji running back up. She scrambled, food forgotten, turning around and following him up as fast as she could, though she was restricted from traveling two steps at a time due to the shortness of her legs, especially when compared to his.

"Slow down, you ape!" she called, panting, but it didn't even seem like he noticed her demand, as he continued up at a fast pace, reaching the top in no time. And Rukia, herself, was at the peak of the bleachers just in time to have her idiot boyfriend scream at the top of his lungs.

"HEY COACHES! REMEMBER ME?" It was a happy yell, sure, but that didn't change the fact that Rukia's hands practically flew to the sides of her head to guard her ears from the noise. She cringed, glaring at him evilly. And just as she was about to shout at him again, the people from the ground spoke.

"Renji?" asked the one with long, white hair. "Is that really you-who am I kidding, of course it's you! After all, there is only one person around that has that hair!" Rukia moved her hands down, now looking at Renji, not with anger, but with confusion painting her features.

"They're my old coaches from little league!" he whispered excitedly. "I didn't know they were still coaching!" It was obvious that he was elated to see these guys, so Rukia restrained herself from starting a shouting match in front of them. Instead she looked down with him, to see the two men. The one that hadn't spoken to Renji, for some reason, wore a traditional sunhat, and wore his dark hair in a flowing ponytail. They both wore the team's uniform, and the one with white hair was wearing a baseball cap to match.

"Yo, Renji, is that a lady friend you have with you up there?" asked the one with the sunhat. Before either individual could answer, he continued, "Sorry if we...interrupted anything." The statement was followed by a wink, causing both Renji and Rukia to go red in an instant.

"Don't tease them, Shunsui," said the other man to his colleague, and then he smiled up at the both of them warmly.

"Miss, I'm Juushiro Ukitake," he called to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Rukia's blush faded a bit, before she replied,

"Thank you. I'm Rukia Kuchiki. Nice to meet you." She would've done a quick bow if she was in the position to. "And, actually...I'm Renji's girlfriend." She smiled, and the dark-haired man said,

"Well, miss Rukia, I'm Shunsui Kyouraku. And, if I may say so, you seem to be a lovely young lady." He removed his hat, then performing a deep bow before gracefully rising back up and replacing his hat in one fluid motion. Rukia didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out, what with the way this man was going about his compliments, but nevertheless, she answered with a, 'Nice to meet you!'

"Are you flirting again?" came an angry female voice from nearby. Out of the shadow of a tree came the owner of the voice, and by the looks of it she was an assistant coach. A very furious assistant coach.

"H-Hello, Nanao-chan!" called Shunsui back to her, obviously flustered. "Y-You've got it all wrong, you see, I was simply introducing myself, and I happened to notice how very nice this young lady looked-"

"-GIVE ME A BREAK!" roared the woman, her dark, done-up hair bouncing slightly as she snatched the man's ear, dragging him into the shadows from whence she had came, and no doubt planning to give him the lecture of a lifetime.

"Sorry about that," said Ukitake awkwardly to Renji and Rukia, drawing the couple's attention away from the scene that had just occurred. "Nanao's the new assistant coach, and she's really been cracking down on Shunsui's, um...'politeness to women.'" Renji smirked at that, as the co-coach _had _always been an obvious ladies' man.

"What happened to Lisa?" asked the redhead, remembering that, when he had played on the team, _she_ had been the second-in-command coach.

"Lisa? She went off to college a couple years back. We do miss her, but Nanao is doing a fine job in her place. And, Renji, if I may ask, could I have the ball back?" The question was asked with utmost politeness, and reminded Renji of the baseball in his hand, an object he had forgotten about some time ago.

"'Course!" he beamed, tossing it down. Ukitake deftly caught the projectile, then throwing it back towards the group of children just behind him so they could resume practice.

"Perfect aim as always, Abarai!" complimented Ukitake, and after a 'thanks!' from Renji, the couple left, this time walking down the bleachers as they returned to their food.

"You do realize that you probably messed up your sandwich when you dropped it, right, Renji?" One look at the scattered food item on the floor of the bleachers was enough to confirm her suspicions.

"...SHIT!"

* * *

As soon as Rukia turned the handle to the front door of her home and stepped inside, she was engulfed by a tall shadow, and when she looked up, she found it to be the shadow of none other than her brother-in-law. As always, his face remained cold, hands buried in the pockets of his business suit as he stared down at her. Before she could get a word in, he spoke flatly,

"Your sister wishes to see you, Rukia." He turned, walking up the first flight of stairs, and Rukia didn't need to be told to follow him. However, the whole situation was a quandary to her. It was very rare for her sister to summon people, especially herself, into a room to speak with her. Normally, Hisana would, herself, travel to where other people were to discuss things with them. A flash of fear went through Rukia, as the thought struck that Hisana's health may have taken a turn for the worse, which was very bad, since the woman already became sick easily and often.

"What's the matter?" she asked her brother, swallowing hard, and trying to hide her tremendous trepidation. She received no answer, and then the man stopped abruptly, turning to face her. The movement snapped the small girl from her thoughts, making her realize that they were right beside her sister's door. Without a word, Rukia slipped in immediately, closing the door softly as she gazed at her sister, who was sitting up on the edge of her and Byakuya's bed.

"Rukia," spoke Hisana softly, as her younger sibling took a seat beside her on the soft mattress, "Did Byakuya-sama tell you why I wanted to talk to you?" Said woman shook her head.

"No...he just told me that you needed to see me...is something wrong, nee-san? Are you feeling okay?" Rukia's eyes flooded with worry, as she took hold of her sister's hand with concern. Hisana let out a small laugh.

"No, nothing of that nature, my dear sister,"she assured with a smile. "There's nothing wrong, I promise. But there is something important we have to discuss."

"What is it, nee-san?" asked Rukia with a curious face.

"Well...you have been involved with Abarai-san for almost a month now, correct?" Rukia nodded, her mind starting to conjure up all the possible ways this conversation could go.

"And he is the first man you have taken a liking to during the meetings?" Another nod, and then Hisana took a deep breath, as if she were about to tell her sister something very difficult.

"Now, before I ask you this, Rukia, I want you to know-I really, _really _want you to know-that I only ask this under the clan's demands. The last thing in the world I want is to pressure you, so I beg of you, please, don't feel that this is something you have to do against your will. You have to promise me that your answer will be only what you yourself truly want." Rukia looked away from her sister a minute, searching the floor as she contemplated the older woman's words.

"A-Alright," she whispered, knowing what the question was to be. "I promise."

"Do you think...do you think that there is any possibility that Abarai-san may be...the man you wish to marry?" Yep. Rukia had known it. And, upon hearing the statement, she was suddenly reminded of the reality of her situation. Since her relationship with Renji had started, she had forgotten...she had forgotten about the reason she was seeing him, forgotten about what their ultimate end was meant to be. All that had mattered was that they were together, and happy. That was, until now. Now, she was being forced to think about reality again, and her mind was an absolute jumble.

"...I..." It was all she could bring herself to say, that one syllable. She tried to think about it, tried to _think _about what her answer was, but her brain refused to work.

"Remember your promise," said Hisana quietly, reaching an arm up and wrapping it about her sister's shoulders. "I swear to you that no details of what you tell me will leave this room, only your blatant answer: yes, no, or maybe. I won't even tell Byakuya-sama anything." And suddenly, Rukia seemed to relax, her body loosening in the older woman's grasp as she realized that this was not a matter she could allow her mind to dictate. So, instead of letting her head work out an answer, she took a deep breath, and let her emotions flood in, breaking the dam that her thoughts had made. Her hand came up to cover Hisana's. Looking said woman straight in the eye with a confident smile, she answered, without a single stutter or hesitation,

"Yes, I think so."

* * *

Renji walked down one of the long hallways of his large house, approaching the den where his aunt spent most of her time. His aim was to inform her that he was home, and he was surprised to hear unfamiliar voices coming from behind the door as he neared it. Stopping before the shoji, he leaned towards it, though not letting his ear touch the screen.

"You told me I had a month," came the obviously-irritated, muffled voice of Unohana. Renji's brow furrowed as he heard this. _A month for what?_

"She is becoming restless, Miss Unohana," came a male voice, one that Renji had never heard before. Who the hell was 'she'? Renji's curiosity was beginning to peak, that was until he heard the next statement.

"I told you once already, I will not allow her to have contact with him! Renji's mother will only make his life hell!" At that, the redhead's eyes widened to platters, and he felt his knees become weak. His mother was dead! She had died when he was 2, just like his father...he didn't want to believe it, didn't want to believe that he had been lied to for 18 years, but...

"Miss Unohana, must I remind you that, since Mr. Abarai is over 18, there are no legal issues concerning-" The man was cut off as Renji slid the door open in a flash, staring at his aunt, and two other men in suits with disbelief and horror painting his features. His eyes immediately flashed to Unohana, and it showed plainly on her face that she was overcome with guilt.

"Renji..."

END OF CHAPTER 7

Hope you all enjoy cliffhangers! But, yeah, Rukia pretty much confessed that she's in love with Renji, and Renji now knows that his horrible mother is alive. All details will be revealed next chap, and again, I'm so sorry for the lateness. Tite Kubo owns Bleach, I don't, and I love and appreciate all comments and opinions!


	8. One in a Million: chapter 8

No, you're not hallucinating, I have written another chapter. I definitely didn't want ANY of my stories going this long without an update, though pretty much all of them have(lack of inspiration...IRL stuff to do...laziness...ugh), and once again, I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY * bows deeply over and over again* but I hope that you guys can at least enjoy the new chapter. Here it is...

One in a Million: Chapter 8

Renji could only stand in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at his aunt.

"Renji..." Unohana's behavior was similar, her heart breaking at the look on her nephew's face. His expression was filled with shock, grief, horror, and worst of all...distrust. She was the closest thing Renji ever had to a parent, and the trust with him that she had built up over a period of 18 years...it was annihilated in one measly second. The proof was in his eyes.

"We'll be leaving, Ms. Unohana," announced Aizen, he and his partner standing up swiftly before either Renji or Unohana could say anything further. As they left, Renji barely took note of them, only able to keep on looking at his aunt in disbelief. All this time...he had a mother. The woman who gave birth to him...she was alive, she was in existence, she was out there somewhere...and all along, he'd thought she'd been gone from this earth. And all this extreme information, put on him so suddenly...his brain could barely function normally.

"Why?" he found himself spitting out as the door closed behind him, separating he and his aunt from the two men outside.

"I'm sorry, Renji," said Unohana, pleading for him to at least listen to her words. "But she's a horrible person. You have to understand, Renji. If you'd known about her, she would have ruined your life."

"Tell me about her," the redhead managed to get out, demanding to know about his mother. And, at a loss, Unohana could think of nothing better to do than to begin her story.

"Your mother was a prostitute, Renji," explained Unohana, her tone darkening as she looked down at herself, too ashamed to look at her nephew as he kept still, no emotion on his face presently, though the woman could sense the occasional twitch of his eyebrows, as if he were about to burst. "Your father was your age when they met. He was so unlike you, Renji. But...so similar to you at the same time. He was hotheaded and ambitious, but very wild as well. His life was about parties and women, and his constant hobby was to...hire call girls." Renji could feel his fists tightening up, knew he was becoming angrier by the second. Not only to learn that one of his parents was alive, but to find out the kind of people they were...there was no one word to describe how he was feeling at that moment. "But..." Renji's ears pricked up at his aunt's add-on, listening for some kind of redeemable quality his father may have possessed. "...He had a good heart, just like you. It's one thing I'm glad you inherited." Renji could feel his emotions ebb a bit at the information, and Unohana paused a minute before continuing.

"I remember the night your father brought her home...it was a couple years before I met my husband"-Renji's uncle, a man who had died but five years ago-"and I was in my senior year of high school. Your father was knee-deep in college, still living at home with us..."

FLASHBACK

_The large door to a splendid mansion swung open, so roughly it collided with the adjacent wall, sending a loud 'BANG' ringing throughout the household. A man with scarlet hair trudged in through the opening, smudging the clean, freshly-polished floors with dirt, and holding close to him a girl wearing naught but a miniskirt, and a low-cut shirt which showed off a great deal of her stomach. The scattered servants who happened to be walking by when this occurred simply stared, awestruck, at the scene. It wasn't a secret that it was normal for the master to fraternize with prostitutes, but he had only ever done so outside the house. But now...now he was **dragging **one of them in with him?_

"_What is the meaning of this!" Seconds after the red-haired man had barged in, his father came stomping down the grand staircase opposite the door, red-faced and obviously furious. "Who is this woman!" he demanded angrily, as his wife and the mother of the recently-arrived boy came scurrying down the steps in 6-inch heels with a fresh coat of makeup on, despite being dressed in her nightgown._

"_She's my girlfriend," muttered the younger man, now lifting the mysterious woman up bridal style so he could escape to his room in a faster manner. "She'll be staying the night." By no means was the statement a question, and the boy's mother and father were shocked by his seriousness, so much so that they were unable to stop him as he climbed up the stairs, passing both without a word._

_As all this had been happening, an 18-year-old(then Abarai)Retsu had also emerged from her quarters, surprised to see her brother bringing home a girl with no warning whatsoever. She became angry, however, when she saw the way her brother treated their parents._

"_Nii-san, stop!" she demanded, grabbing his shoulder as he reached the platform at the top of the stairs and turned to travel to his own room. "You're drunk!" She was hardly ready for his actions then, his whipping around to face her, his harsh glare and the coldness with which his next words were said._

"_I'm. Not. Drunk." And with that, he left, his sister's hand slipping easily off his shoulder as he disappeared into his room, not emerging until morning._

END FLASHBACK

"...I still don't know what happened between them that night before they came to the house," continued Retsu. "I don't know whether he payed for her or just found her and fell under her spell...but the next day, he brought her downstairs to make an announcement to the family..."

FLASHBACK

"_This is my girlfriend, as I've said," declared the young man, holding said woman around the waist. She was cleaned up from last night-it was obvious that she had bathed and that the man had secretly borrowed some of his sister's clothing for her. He stood before his family shamelessly, presenting his new partner, letting everyone know by his tone and his facial expression that he was serious, and would not be denied his requests. "She'll be staying here for as long as she wants...we're going to help her get over her addiction, and then she and I will get married." All the rest of the family's eyes widened at the word 'addiction', and the boy's father came forward to stage a protest._

"_Addiction? Son, we cannot have a troubled prostitute living under our roof!" he shouted vigorously. "Much less can we allow you to wed her! We have no knowledge of who she is, or where she came from! How did you even meet her?How are you certain she is not simply seducing you to swindle you out of your money and love?" The older man was unable to finish, however, as his son lost it, flinging his arm forward and punching his father square in the face. The young woman held close to the younger male's side had curled deeper into him with each stinging reproach that had been delivered by the elder, but had then gasped in shock when her 'boyfriend' had attacked the man. The other two women in the room were similarly speechless, wearing shocked faces as they watched the beaten man pick himself up from the ground(the force was so strong and unexpected it had thrown him there), gave his son a heartbroken glare, and then turned, walking from the room._

"_Do what you wish," were his only words as he went, and it was clear by his tone that he was severing the ties of the emotional relationship between himself and his son._

END FLASHBACK

"...Months passed, and your mother stayed with us, the constant, awkward tension between her and mother and father and I eclipsed only by your father's infatuation. She kept it up, that act of hers, but as time went on she seemed to falter a bit...it was as if she was becoming impatient, waiting for something...but even with that, she didn't quit her pills. We all knew, even though your father kept saying she was working on her addiction...he was really just living in denial." Unohana paused a moment, allowing her nephew to absorb this information before she dropped the biggest bomb of all. After a moment of complete silence, she went on:

"And then, her plan succeeded. She found a way to worm herself into your father's life forever..."

FLASHBACK

"_Oh...oh darling, come here!" shrieked a distinctly feminine voice from a small, polished room in the Abarai family mansion. The man in question rushed to his beloved's side, fearful that she might be in danger. And when he opened the door to the bathroom, panic spread across his face, he was met with the sight of his fiance, crocodile tears filling her eyes as she held up a small white stick, the only color on it being a pink plus sign on one end. Upon seeing this, the fright on the man's face turned to joy, as he embraced his lover happily._

"_...We're going to be parents..." he croaked out blissfully..._

END FLASHBACK

"...She purposefully became pregnant with you so she could secure a permanent place at your father's side. A place where she could live in luxury and have enough money to indulge herself in all the painkillers she could ever want. It was only during her pregnancy that she quit the pills, as she was not willing to run the risk of losing her ticket to easy living." Renji could feel his lip quivering, his fists shaking. He wanted to scream out in anger and cry tears of agony all at once.

"They had no ceremony, no blessings. They simply eloped, right after they found out about you. And when your father and mother returned home, it wasn't pretty. Your father was nearly disowned. There was so much anger, he simply took all the money from his bank account and bought he and your mother a large home, in which they lived as he continued to earn money from his stock in the family business. He doted so much on her, Renji. My brother loved your mother with all of his heart, and when you were born, he loved you just the same. And your mother, well...she went right back to the drugs, feigning compassion for you so your father would continue to love her." There was yet another pause, before Renji's semi-reluctant impatience got the better of him.

"So what happened to...my father?" he asked, both wanting and dreading to know the rest of the story. The thing his aunt had always told him was that his father _and _mother, along with his grandparents, had perished in a car crash, and that custody of him had gone to the next of kin, herself. But obviously, that was not the truth. The only thing left for Renji to learn was just _how _far from reality his aunt's lie had strayed.

"My mother and father wanted to try one last time to change my brother's mind," spoke Unohana. "And it was only out of the love he still had for us that he agreed to a dinner between himself and our parents. It was a secret from your mother, and mother and father were dead set on convincing your father to divorce from your mother, and take you and come home. The report the police gave me said that he met them at the restaurant, and then after, they hailed a taxi, and it was on the route leading back to your father's house that the crash occurred. I don't know what they discussed at the dinner, or what your father decided on...but afterward, your mother...in her eyes, she couldn't be in a better position. She had so much money, and no one she had to act civil to. Aside from having you, she could live the rest of her life in a drugged haze, blinded to all else except her selfish desires." It hurt Unohana deeply to say those words, to inform her nephew that the woman who gave birth to him was such a horrible person. Though she didn't prefer to finish the story, she knew she had to.

"I was 21 when that happened, Renji, and you were two. I knew what had to be done. I knew with all certainty that I couldn't let you grow up in a home with a neglectful mother and no love whatsoever. The day after the funeral, I filed for your custody. In order to convince the court that my sister-in-law was an unfit mother, I had to reveal the details of her drug abuse. It was more than enough to put you in my care, and her in prison for years, with her also losing all the money she gained from the death of your father and the house he had bought ..." there was only a slight lapse in the conversation, until she went on, "Renji...Forgive me, please...I know that keeping these things from you was not right, but I know how you are, Renji...I knew you would try to find her, and I didn't want you to see what a horrible person she was...I didn't want you to be torn up inside..."

Before any more words could be said, Renji stood up swiftly, in one fast motion, and exited the room, leaving Unohana with an expression mixed between guilt and heartbreak. Stomping away from the door, he stopped before Aizen and Szayel, who had remained in the hallway throughout the conversation. Not casting even a glance their way, he stated emotionlessly:

"Where's my mother?"

* * *

For Rukia, the walk back to her room from her sister's was a sort of...dreamlike experience, so to say. Her legs kept moving, approaching the door of her sleeping quarters, but at the same time she could barely feel them, could barely register her physical actions. It was just...she had admitted it. She, Kuchiki Rukia, had basically confessed her love for Abarai Renji, and she was still trying to wrap her head around the amazing feeling she got when she was around him, or thought about him...it was unfathomable.

The "floaty" feeling she was experiencing continued even as she made it to her room, and allowed her body to collapse onto the futon. _I love him...I really, really do love him with all my heart..._ Rukia continued to think these heartfelt thoughts, smiling to herself, until the phone rang, the loud ringing piercing through the former silence in the room.

It had startled her for a moment, that ringing, but nevertheless Rukia quickly picked up the phone, holding it to her ear as she listened for the voice on the other end.

"Kuchiki-san?" asked the semi-familiar voice. Rukia's eyes narrowed in confusion and concentration. She had heard that voice before, she was certain, but...she couldn't quite match it to its owner.

"Hello...Kuchiki-san?" Realizing she hadn't answered, Rukia had a small mental stumble before replying,

"Y-Yes, hello, this is Kuchiki Rukia." She was still oblivious to who the caller was, but decided to keep up the conversation, in case the person on the other end had anything of importance to tell her.

"This is Unohana Retsu," continued the caller, and Rukia's eyes went from narrow to wide as she remembered immediately who the person was. This was Renji's aunt, the woman she had met with at the first two meetings. She sat up swiftly.

"Yes, is there something you need to tell me?" asked Rukia, wondering if maybe the same question of marriage asked of her had also been inquired of him. And, if that was the case, she also couldn't help wondering his answer, the uncertainty of the thought causing her heart to both leap in joy and cower in fear at the same time.

"Kuchiki-san, if it isn't any trouble...could you please come to my residence?" Well...it was rather unusual, but maybe...if her suspicions were correct...maybe they wanted to give her the answer in person. It sure sounded like what Renji would prefer, at least to her. Either way, there was no reason _not _to go.

"Um...of course. May I...ask why?" This she inquired not only out of natural curiosity, but because she yearned to gain even an inkling of information that might add backing to her hypothesis.

"It's a long story..." began Unohana, her tone laced with a hint of sadness, making the butterflies in Rukia's stomach stronger for a moment. "...but it has to do with Renji. I'll tell you the rest when you arrive." Rukia was a bit perplexed, but responded,

"Any specific time?"

"As soon as possible." After confirming that she would indeed drive to the woman's house, Rukia hung up the phone, standing to walk out her bedroom door. Though the question of a marital union had been what she originally thought this was for, the crestfallen quality in Unohana's voice made her dread that something much, much more grave was going on...

* * *

Renji stood before the door in the apartment building, staring alternatively at the worn number screwed onto it and the slip of paper given him by Aizen and Szayel. The whole building was broken down, old, and just plain scummy...but this room inside of it that he was standing before the door of, this room was where his mother lived. A person he had always wondered about, and now that Unohana had told him about her...he was stuck in the middle of wanting desperately to meet her and never wanting to ever lay eyes on her...

But no. He had to do this. He had to meet her, had to confront her...the rest of his life would be a big regret, otherwise. He raised a shaking fist in front of the door, and, after a moment's hesitation, knocked at it firmly, three times. There were some sounds from inside the room-how terribly thin the buildings walls were-and then the sound of the door being unlocked, and then it was open wide.

"Ye-" the female voice stopped short as its owner glanced upward at her visitor, her hand falling off the doorknob as if it were lost of all strength. The woman before Renji was thin, so thin he could barely comprehend it, so thin he could see the bones in her arms and torso face. A face with sunken-in, ghostly brown eyes, and long, matted mahogany hair that framed it.

"Mom..." he choked out, because there was nothing else which he could think to say, and even with that recognition, it was unclear even to himself whether the simple word was said with happiness, or grief, or anger or all three of those and more emotions mixed together.

"My son..." she whispered, tears instantly springing to her eyes as she took a step forward, embracing him and weeping, while all he could do was stand there, watching her and wanting to scream out in an emotional frenzy. "Renji...my son...you're home..."

END OF CHAPTER 8

Is Renji's mom cruel like Unohana says? Or does she actually have some love for her son? Well, I'm not telling, so you're gonna have to wait to find out. Hopefully not as long this time hehe...anyways...you like? Before I go to the disclaimer, I do have an announcement. I have considered this multiple times, but have always dropped the idea. I am once again thinking about changing the rating of the story to M, which, you guessed it, would mean lemon. Now, once again, I'm just thinking about it...I haven't decided whether I'm up to writing that kind of content yet. I just wanted to put it out there, since there's already a tad bit of _adult_ content in this story. Anyhow...Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo, and I love and appreciate all comments and opinions. Have a wonderful day :)


	9. One in a Million: chapter 9

Guess who's back for another update? That's right, it's me! Back (again) after months of dormancy. I really surprised myself when I got into the mood and started writing this chapter, especially with this being so soon after I released the final chapter of Byakuya's Schemes...well, anyways, enough with my rambling. Enjoy!

One in a Million: Chapter 9

"You're home..." As his mother's cracking voice said the words, Renji found himself embracing her with numb arms, his chest heavy and his emotions scrambled. After standing in the doorway with her for a few minutes, he noticed that her sobs had died down. Before he could speak, she looked up at him.

"Renji..." she spoke, another tear leaking from the corner of her eye. "I'm so happy to see you." Her smile widened before she broke away from him, ushering her son inside. "Come in, please. There's so much I want to talk to you about." Renji obeyed her command, walking in stiffly.

It was one room, with two doors on the wall opposite himself that he was sure led to the bathroom and bedroom, respectively. In one corner, there was a sink, oven and stove placed underneath some cabinets, with a small amount of counter space beside them which was occupied by an ancient microwave. A worn, ratty couch lay in the center of the area across from a wooden chair, an old-looking coffee table separating them. In another corner, there was a tall lamp, and those were the only furnishings Renji could spot in this sad place. The wallpaper was peeling terribly, the carpet was caked with dirt, and there were large cracks in the ceiling-this place was horrible.

"Please, sweetie, sit down," said his mother, snapping him from his trance. "I'll get you some water." Renji did as she told him, still examining her apartment as she walked over to the kitchen-like area and opened up one of the cabinets, pulling out a glass. After turning on the faucet, she filled it, then ceasing the water's stream as she walked over to where he was and took a seat in the chair opposite him, handing him the beverage.

"How are you, my darling?" she asked him, looking upon her son with a sugar-sweet gaze. Renji, surprised by the casualty of her question, straightened up quickly, blinking a couple times.

"Um..." he started, swallowing the lump in his throat before he remembered the rather dark things he had been told about this woman. His eyes went downcast. "Mom..."-the word still made him want to burst into tears-"...Aunt Retsu told me about you..." Before he could continue, his mother spoke up.

"Oh, Renji..." She looked down at herself. There was a pregnant pause before she sighed. "Your aunt and I never got along...she's cast me in a gruesome light, hasn't she?" She looked back up at her offspring, and he returned her gaze, unable to do anything else but nod. She sighed again. "Renji, I know this may be hard to believe after what Retsu-san has told you, but I promise you that all of it is exaggerated. There was always tension between her and I, and I can only imagine how she portrayed me. Renji gulped.

"Up until a little while ago...she had me believing you had passed." The woman's eyes widened to platters as her hand snapped up to cover her mouth and muffle a gasp.

"She told you what?" she exclaimed, tears beginning to bubble in her eyes once more. "Renji, I'm so sorry...this is all my fault..." At that statement , Renji perked up, surprised.

"No, mom, it's not your-"

"-Yes it is!" she cut him off, her head falling forward. "I wasn't there for you because of my stupidity, because of the mistakes I made! They gave your aunt the scapegoat she needed to take you away from me, and I regret it every day...if it weren't for me, you wouldn't be going through this...you wouldn't have to endure such pain..."

Renji's expression softened as he watched tears drip down his mother's face. She seemed so...sincere about this. Her voice expressed true pain, true regret, and the young man truly felt that she was desperate to turn back time and change what had happened, so that she could prevent this mess.

"Mom...mom, it's okay," he said, feeling himself like he wanted to cry. "All that matters...is that we can be together now. We don't have much of a past, but we can build a great future together." He reached forward, across the table that lay between them, and grabbed one of his mother's hands which was resting in her lap. He smiled, saying, "I...I love you, mom." She looked up at him, tear streaks staining her face.

"Oh, my son..." she whispered, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. "I love you, too. And I want to have a future with you, on full of happiness and love."

"That's all I've ever wanted with you, mom," he said as she squeezed his hand, her smile brightening.

"It will be so, I promise," she replied, before briefly closing her eyes to gather her thoughts. Upon reopening them, she said, "Let us lighten the mood a bit. So many serious matters are more than one person should have to handle in one day." Renji noticed that her tears had dried up quickly, her demeanor easily rising. "How have you been, dear?" she asked him. "You've grown up to be very handsome, you know." She rose her unoccupied hand up to touch his face. "You must have a pretty girlfriend, right?" Renji chuckled at her teasing, saying,

"You have no idea, mom." As thoughts of his wonderful Rukia filled his mind, he began his description. "Her name's Rukia..." and he trailed off into his telling, informing his mother of the wonderful woman who was so, so precious to him.

* * *

Rukia raised a fist up in front of herself, knocking on the front door of the Abarai manor. There was the sound footsteps running in her direction before the door opened up, revealing one Unohana Retsu, despair present within her face. Rukia, noticing this, wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion and concern.

"Rukia, you're here," said Unohana before said woman could voice her curiosity. "Thank you for arriving so quickly. Please come in." Rukia did so, following the older woman into the house and through a nearby hallways which led into the large living room. Unohana motioned the younger of the two to sit down, which she did, before taking a seat across from her, still looking somber.

"What's the matter, Unohana-san?" asked Rukia, bringing up her concerns from earlier. "Is something wrong? Did something...happen to Renji?" As the thought occurred to her, Rukia found herself panicking, fear rising within her at the idea that Renji might be hurt or injured in some way.

"Calm down, Rukia," said Unohana before the girl could become hysterical. "Physically, Renji is perfectly fine." This elicited a grateful gasp from Rukia as she calmed herself. "But..."-her eyes averted to the side, away from the other woman's gaze-"...I'm afraid that when he returns home, his emotions are going to be very unstable."

'Why?" asked Rukia, her brow furrowing in bewilderment. She was more than relieved that Renji was unharmed, however she was very curious and concerned about why he would be so frazzled emotionally. Unohana sighed, her eyes still looking away.

"Today, I told Renji...that his mother is alive." Rukia's eyebrows shot up, her thought process hitting a brick wall as the information sunk in.

"Wha...what?" exclaimed Rukia as she leaned forward. "What do mean his mother's alive?" This was something huge, something substantial...and given the nature of Renji's personality, Rukia could only imagine how it affected him. Another sigh escaped from Unohana's lips.

"I'll tell you about it," she said, her eyes finally meeting Rukia's. "I'll tell you everything..." And she did, guilt filling her as she told the story for the second time that day.

* * *

"More water, dear?" Renji's mother asked him, reaching for his empty glass. He smiled, nodding.

"Yes, please," he replied. It was nighttime now, and everything was peaceful. "Thanks, mom." They exchanged a smile before she went to the sink, quickly refilling his glass. Returning to her place across from her son and setting down his water, she said,

"Son...can I ask you about something?" Renji grinned again, casually answering,

"Of course." He looked up at her happily, but his expression faltered a bit when he noticed the look in her eyes-it greatly rivaled the tone of her joyful face. The redhead couldn't quite place what she meant by it, but it was obvious that it didn't belong with the rest of her expression.

"Well, sweetheart..." she began, her smile widening, "correct me if I'm wrong, but...you've been left a lot of money, haven't you?" Renji was shocked at her statement, his eyebrows meeting as new questions arose within his mind,

"Um...what?"

"Well, dear, I mean that...you know, since your father had passed, and I've been disowned...all the money's been willed to you, hasn't it? Your father's portion?" Renji, still confused, answered tentatively,

"Well...yes, but I don't see why-"

"-Oh, I thought so!" she interrupted him, her tone of voice brightening. "That's wonderful, dear! Now..."-she darkened down to a more serious demeanor at this point-"...I need to ask you for something." Renji's bewilderment grew, a pit forming in his stomach, but nevertheless, he answered,

"What is it?" Renji could feel himself dreading the answer, as the inhibitions that had plagued his mind earlier arose once more. His mother reached over the table, taking his hands in hers.

"Renji, my dear, my angel," she said endearingly, "my miracle, my only son...could you give your mother some of that money? You see, I'm in need of some...medicine, my darling." Renji felt his chest tighten, his teeth gritting in agony. "If I don't get my medicine, it causes me many problems. So, please, Renji, light of my life...be kind to your mother, and lend her the money she needs." Her kind expression had quirked, contorting into something that screamed of desperation.

"Mom..." said Renji softly, his worst fears becoming reality, "what do you mean...medicine?" Truly, he knew what she was referring to, but Renji still clung to a small shred of hope-at this moment, it was the only thing keeping him from having an emotional breakdown.

"It's just medicine, dear," she assured him. "It makes me feel better. It's good for me. Trust me, dear." There was a pause between them, Renji's face turning horrific as his mother stared back at him. Her eyes narrowed. "Your aunt told you it was bad for me, didn't she?" she asked accusingly. Renji didn't answer-he was too in disbelief to say anything. "Don't listen to her, Renji!" she yelled. "Retsu doesn't know what she's talking about! I need my medicine, Renji! It makes me better, I need it!" The last sentence made Renji snap.

"No, mom, you don't need it!" he countered, his voice filled with heartbreak as he wretched his hands away and placed them on her shoulders. "It's not medicine, mom! It's bad for you! It's killing you!" After he spoke, she shot a look his way that would make one think her son had just stabbed her square in the back.

"You don't understand, Renji!" she said, her desperation clearly increasing. "I need it, my son! I need it!" Looking into her tear-filled eyes, Renji could clearly see that her only thoughts were of getting more pills, and it disgusted him. Disgusted him and made him feel turmoil inside. With all of his heart, he wanted it to be untrue-he wanted his mother to be clean and sane so that they could build a relationship together. But the evidence of the actual situation was staring him in the face, and he couldn't deny reality any longer.

"I'm sorry, mom," he said solemnly, breaking his gaze from hers as he fought to hold back tears. He stood up, taking his hands from her shoulders and heading for the door.

"Renji, wait! My son!" As soon as he heard the words, Renji broke. He ran, yanking the door open and slamming it behind himself on the way out. He'd come here wanting the truth, and he'd gotten it. It was not what he had hoped for, however, not by any rate. His mother was a drug addict...and she'd faked her compassion towards him simply so she could obtain his money. It made the redhead sick just thinking about it, and as soon as he had exited the building and entered his car, he began to cry. Renji Abarai, a man of twenty, wept like there was no tomorrow-he was bawling like a baby for the first time in many, many years.

* * *

Rukia felt the numb after hearing the story. Renji's mother...his past...she wanted to cry just thinking about how sad it was.

"I hope you don't judge me..." said Unohana, breaking Rukia from her thoughts, "...but I was trying to protect Renji from her, from his mother. I realize, now, that it may not have been the wisest path.." Rukia looked down at herself, unsure of what to think.

"Honestly, Unohana-san, I don't know how I should feel towards your actions," admitted the younger woman. The choice in that situation was definitely a difficult one, and it really was hard for Rukia to imagine which path she would choose if she were in a similar position.

Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening up echoed throughout the house, followed by an impossibly loud slam as it was shut. Next came the sound of rapid, heavy footsteps as the person who was clearly Renji ran across the large foyer and up the stairs into his bedroom. Another raucous slam occurred.

"This is why I asked you here," said Unohana. "Obviously, he does not trust me anymore...Rukia-san, Renji cares for you deeply, and so I thought that maybe you would be able to speak to him...that you would be able to comfort him in a way that I cannot right now." Rukia nodded.

"I'll talk to him." Unohana bowed to her.

"Thank you, Rukia-san." Said woman returned the gesture.

"Of course." And with that, Rukia ventured out of the living room, heading slowly up the stairs as she thought of what she could say to comfort her beloved when he was in this state, under these circumstances. Eventually, she reached the door to Renji's bedroom.

"Renji...?" she said tentatively, knocking lightly. There was no answer. "Renji, can I come in? It's Rukia." Her tone was soft, and when there was still no response, she continued: "Renji, Retsu-san told me everything-all of it. I know you're hurting right now, Renji, and I want to help you. You can talk to me, Renji, you can lean on me for support. I care about you a lot, and I want to help you get through this. Please let me in." After a few seconds of silence, Rukia heard a click, signaling that the door had been unlocked. It didn't open, however, telling her that he was waiting for her to enter herself.

And so, she carefully placed her hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly before pushing forward, effectively extinguishing the barrier between she and her her love. What Rukia saw upon her entrance saddened her deeply. Renji was leaning against the wall, his knees pulled up towards his chest and his face buried in his large hands.

"Renji..." she said softly, feeling herself like she was going to weep. She walked over to where he was, kneeling before him and reaching in between his knees to wrap her arms around his neck, tucking his head underneath her chin. "Talk to me," she told him. "You can trust me, Renji." She felt him twitch at that comment and then he moved, removing her hands from him and taking his head out from under her chin. When their eyes met, Rukia was shocked by the hard glare he gave her.

"Why should I, Rukia?" he asked her coldly, causing her eyes to widen as she felt the stinging pain from the comment.

"Renji, what are you-"

"-I trusted Aunt Retsu and I trusted mother and where did that get me?" he said, pain and hurt filling his voice as tears began to brim in his eyes. "I trust these people-these people that I love with all of my heart and they stomp all over that trust-they destroy it. How do I know it won't happen again with you." His expression gradually morphed into a state of sadness as he said the words, and Rukia gasped, the entirety of his statement becoming clear to her.

"Renji...are you saying...?"

"That I love you?" he replied, chuckling bitterly after he said it. "I do, Rukia, I really fuckin' do." He raised his hand up to his face and cradled his forehead, his eyes closing. "I love you more than the sun and stars, ya know that?" He did that chuckle again. "But what does it matter? It's not like it can be different this time...how can I expect it to be any different?" Rukia swallowed the hurt his comments were causing her, knowing that he was in a bad place right now, and instead trying to lead him into the light.

"Renji, please," she begged him. "I...I love you, Renji." Her heart fluttered as she said the words, and even though his gaze was still hidden from her, she noticed that he twitched again. "I'll do anything to prove it to you, Renji. I'll stay here with you all night. All through tomorrow. All week, if that's what it takes. I want you to trust me, Renji." She gently removed his hand from his forehead, taking his face in her grasp and forcing him to look at her.

"Look at me if you think I'm lying," she asserted, tears now threatening to fall from her own eyes. His gaze lowered, falling from her own. "No, Renji, look at me," she insisted. "Look into my eyes." He did so, tentatively, his eyes slowly meeting hers. She began again.

"I love you, Abarai Renji," she declared firmly, resisting the urge her voice had to crack. "I love you so much. I promise I will never betray you, or lie to you, or deceive you. I promise you with all my heart." She smiled, the tears finally falling. Renji had no reaction for a moment, his face blank, before his lip began quivering. Faster than she knew it, Rukia was engulfed in Renji's arms, her face pressed into his shoulder.

"Oh, Renji," she said, embracing him in turn. "I love you." She held him tightly, not wanting to ever let go. Renji pulled back, his hand going to cup her face as his thumb stroked her cheek.

"You promise?" he asked her, hope and love showing within his brown orbs.

"I promise." And she smiled, leaning up to kiss him with all the love and passion in her heart. The simple meeting of lips quickly erupted into something much deeper, much more meaningful, and before they knew it, the couple had moved to Renji's bed, continuing to kiss as they pulled each other closer, as things became more heated. This felt right, they both realized. The two of them, together like this, was meant to be in every way, shape and form possible. This was stunning.

This was love.

END OF CHAPTER 9

*Sighs* I'm exhausted-this whole thing was written and typed in two days...but what matters is whether you guys liked it. Did you? I hope so :) This chapter was really big for me-essentially, it's the climax chapter of the whole story, and what we're going to see from here on out is a lot of resolving issues and tying up loose ends-basically, I'm gonna be gettin' 'er done ^^ But anyways, I really hope you guys liked it. And by the way, happy election day for those of you in America. Go out and vote! :) Anyways, Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. All comments and opinions are appreciated and loved!


End file.
